Any experience legally selling Homemade food products?

If you could possibly PM me, i do have some questions for you on the subject.

Thanks LTH members,
dave

Hi,

Rather than PM, why not allow everyone to learn from this dialogue?

Regards,

Bring it on then....

alright - so, here are my questions:

I want to have a service where you could order food product (that i prepared) online. Local orders could be personally delivered, outside of my delivery area it will be shipped.

- What neccessary steps need to be taken to comply with the FDA?
- What local/city/state offices do i need to contact to get licensed?
- Is Kitchen Chicago (kitchen rental) an approved, inspected kitchen that i can produce commerically out of?
- Besides a Food Safety cert, is there anything else these organizations are going to require of me?
- Do i need to have a business license?
- do i need liability insurance?

Thanks to anyone who's got some input
dave

Hi Dave,

I recently started my own business, so I've researched many of these personally. I do retail and wholesale business, so my answers may not be as complete as you need. Yours sounds like a fun concept.

First of all, the City of Chicago doesn't want you making it out of your home, but it sounds like you're aware of that already. Every city is different, as I know some business owners in the suburbs that are converting their basement into a commercial kitchen. Kitchen Chicago is the only one of its kind in Chicago, unless you personally know someone who would rent you kitchen space. I rent from them myself, and can say that Alexis (one of the owners) is probably the one of the most helpful people I've ever worked with. Not only is she extremely flexible, she'll give you pretty much any assistance you ask for. She's held workshops for us in the past, showcasing packaging, for instance. She requires that you sign a contract with her, and have 1 million in liability insurance, which she also provides a contact for.

You'll want a business license, food safety certificate (for both the city and the state), assumed business name (if the name of the company is anything other than your name, "Dave's Catering", for instance), federal employee identification number (FEIN), and a state tax ID. There may be more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

It took me quite a while to research this, and in the process I lost time and even money, by making a few bad decisions. I recently came across SCORE, which is a group that helps small businesses. They're all retired professionals (many of them multi-millionaires) who donate their time to help people get headed in the right direction. They're affiliated with the SBA, so can give you pretty much any sort of assistance. I would highly recommend going to them - their counseling is free, confidential, and repeatable. Be warned, they will ask for a full business plan However, if you don't have that completed or need assistance, they will also help you with that. It's definitely not a hand-holding organization, but they will use their experience to help you along the way. I took a few great workshops there (about $30 each) which really helped me.

Feel free to ask any more questions, and I'll help as best I can. Good luck!

My father, who is a retired businessman, works with SCORE, mainly in the southern suburbs. He does this for all types of businesses. I agree that they are a terrific resource for anyone trying to start their own business. They will try and match you up with someone who is knowledgeable about the type of business you are trying to open and they are very, very helpful.

They also hold seminars a few times a year in the downtown area -- my father has been a presenter at the last few.

Suzy

thanks so much guys - it does help a lot. I am currently working on a business plan, that was the first thing i started working on.

as soon as it gets done, i'm gonna go ahead and look into SCORE.

I've just been cold calling the USDA, FDA and IDPH - getting put on hold, being told to call someone else, leaving voicemails, etc - and believe it or not - i've actually been able to get a lot of my answers.

hope to be up and running by mid october.

What are you planning on making?

we're going to be making sausage. Right now, after serving a restaurant owner a sample of our product, he's offered (albiet verbally, or "handshake") an agreement to carry our product at 10% above cost in exchange for on-menu and in-house advertising.

So, we're going to start with that account and try and work from there. We're also going to be offering online ordering for local deliveries in the chicagoland area.

Becuase we're working with meats and whatnot, we're going to be playing it 100% by the rules. (I have had a couple local kitchen owners just tell me to wing it - but i'm not doing that. Not only have i worked in healthcare for years - making me a complete germ and bacteria freak - i want to be legit for our business sake and for our customers' peice of mind).

So, as of now we are planning on:
1. obtaining food safety/sanitation certs
2. renting space (both kitchen, fridge and freezer) from Kitchen Chicago
3. and distributing from there the best we can at this point while complying with all health/food regulations.

as to what exactly those delivery/storage/distribution regs are, we are working on that the best we can by contacting the local, state and federal governing agencies.

is that too much info to post in a public spot at this point? i don't know.

Also, in the very near future, we are planning on asking the LTH Forum to volunteer for a panel of taste-testers for our flagship products. A questionaire will be involved, and the taste testing will obviously be of no cost to the generous members who volunteer themselves.

Djenks: Hope you don't mind me adding my questions, but I thought this was the most appropriate thread.

I was curious about how to get involved with farmer's markets. In addition to produce, I always see baked goods and other non-produce items at farmer's markets. Can anyone relate their own experience or point me in the direction of finding out how one secures a booth at a Chicago farmer's market? I don't have a specific product, but am curious for the sake of possible future plans.

Edit: should have done the simple web search before posting my question. The City of Chicago website addresses my questions as to how to get into a farmer's market.

If you will be working with raw meats you need USDA inspection. I suggest you look into that. The city and state certification doesn't apply to wholesale meats although you would learn quiet a bit if you take the course. As I said it is a whole different ball park when working with meats especially raw meats.
Paulette