quote:Originally posted by johnmal
I want to start a business of bottling sauces that I've developed over the years as a chef and restaurant manager. I would like to keep the investment as low as possible but be able to produce as good quanity of product safely. Any suggestions on equipment or web-site to research
Your best bet would to be to get a co-packer to produce your private label sauces. If you want to produce your own sauces, you could set up a low-volume commercial kitchen relatively cheaply if you follow the business model of a small Amish jam kitchen. I've seen FDA-approved jam kitchens that cook their products in stock pots on a gas stove, transfer them to a pouring pitcher and hand-fill their jars. Not counting the cost of the facility, you could outfit a low-volume kitchen for less than $1000.00.
Keep in mind that there is tremendous competition out there for sauces and the key to being successful in making sauces hinges on your ability to market your product. You'll really need to understand who your potential market is and how you'll attract interest in your products. By any standard, you can expect your volumes on each product to be low for many years.
One of the biggest constraints on this type of business is transportation costs. You'll probably have to bottle your sauces in glass and a case of product is relatively heavy and fragile. If you shipped a few cases of product to a reseller, it will probably cost you as much as $15.00 per case of twelve on a product that you'll have to wholesale for around $24.00 per case. Even if you are able to ship to someone in pallet quantities, your per case cost of shipping will still be around $8.00 to $10.00.
Jeff Zeiders, who posts on this board, recently launched an effort to offer his "secret sauce" that he uses at his family's concession business. He sells this sauce in conjunction with his concession business, offering it there as well as selling it on line and to various retailers for resell.
Jeff has done a wonderful job of working with his co-packer to produce a product that is high quality, has a great appearance, and is priced right. You can go to his website (www.zeidersconcessions.com) for further info on his sauce. Because Jeff is not relying on his sauce sales as his sole source of income, I suspect that he'll be successful with it.
Starting a business to make sauces can be done easily. Making a living at it is another story. It can be done, but it won't be easy.
That's my $.02 on the subject.
