Questions about supplies and licenses

Hello all!

I'm starting a business where I'll be making a food product to be sold primarily online and I have a few questions about this.

First, regarding licenses, besides the one from the Board of Health and/or the Department of Public Health (hmmm...are they even different Boards?), would I have to also get a Sanitation certificate or license? In other words, how many licenses would I require?

Second, I will be needing "natural" and possibly organic ingredients. Would any of you know which supplier has a good repertoire of these products? Does Sysco have organic stuff?

Thanks in advance!

Do you have your company started and registered with the city, state and federal government? If not you will have to get that out of the way first.

As far as licenses go you will need to start by getting your food handlers
license. This is a simple process that takes a few days. Then, you will need to go to city hall and get licensed for a few things. You will need your retail food license and a food distributors license. You can learn more at http://www.cityofchicago.org. The city has been really informative in the past 5 years or so. They have there stuff together so don't be afraid to ask questions.

Good Luck,

Thanks for the helpful pointers, figjustin

Do you know of any good quality yet reasonably-priced alternatives to Sysco?

You may want to take alook at this site, especially the "State & Local Info" tab. There's a wealth of practical information and resources there and on the site generally.

What types of foods & disposables will you be needing? There are hundreds of opptions out there depending on your needs. If you will be needing bulk amounts of the same items the choice will differ from if you need different items. Let me know and I can send you some ideas.

marias23 wrote:Hello all!

I'm starting a business where I'll be making a food product to be sold primarily online and I have a few questions about this.

First, regarding licenses, besides the one from the Board of Health and/or the Department of Public Health (hmmm...are they even different Boards?), would I have to also get a Sanitation certificate or license? In other words, how many licenses would I require?

Second, I will be needing "natural" and possibly organic ingredients. Would any of you know which supplier has a good repertoire of these products? Does Sysco have organic stuff?

Thanks in advance!

whats type food product?

Specifically, I'm going to be making a nutrition bar.

So, the ingredients I would need are mostly dry goods, such as nuts, dried fruit, grains and the "wet" goods include honey, brown sugar syrup. We'd like to keep everything minimally processed.

Also, do you guys know of any mini packaging printers or vacuum sealers? And how do you determine shelf life?

I bought a Larabar, a nutrition bar that is mostly or entirely raw. Surprisingly, the bars have a considerable shelf life!

marias23 wrote:Specifically, I'm going to be making a nutrition bar.

So, the ingredients I would need are mostly dry goods, such as nuts, dried fruit, grains and the "wet" goods include honey, brown sugar syrup. We'd like to keep everything minimally processed.

Also, do you guys know of any mini packaging printers or vacuum sealers? And how do you determine shelf life?

I bought Larabar, a company that specializesin raw bars. Surprisingly, the bars have a considerable shelf life!

ok just wondering..as I had my sauce done through a co-packer whow as able to locate all the ingredients my recipe called for..yours seems to be a a bit different of a food product then

marias23 wrote:Specifically, I'm going to be making a nutrition bar.

So, the ingredients I would need are mostly dry goods, such as nuts, dried fruit, grains and the "wet" goods include honey, brown sugar syrup. We'd like to keep everything minimally processed.

In 1999, I worked for a certain football player who was marketing his particular BBQ sauce. He was using a contract manufacturer to produce his sauce. That way, he knew that 1) the product was produced under sanitary conditions, 2) the contract producer had great expertise in producing and bottling the product, and 3) the contract company had "credibility" with local groceries and distributors.

Great idea, jlawrence01. My partner and I are still open to that avenue too. The only potential problem is that at least in the beginning (hopefully just the beginning), the order flow might be a tad unpredictable because our business idea is based on customizing the nutrition bars according to the individual customer's desires.

Interestingly, I believe that was how Clif bars started out, by "outsourcing" their manufacturing to bakeries. I wonder if they're making their own bars now...

Check out United Natural Foods for dry goods- they have a huge selection of organic supplies. For produce (if you need it) try Goodness Greenness.