Defending Homemade Food Freedom Nationwide
People have a right to earn an honest living without arbitrary and excessive government interference. Since 2013, the Institute for Justice has defended home bakers and chefs as part of its Food Freedom Initiative. Read about IJs nationwide food freedom advocacy
Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky |Louisiana | Maine | | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | Washington, D.C. | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming
All information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Statutes, regulations, and processes are subject to change at any time, and specific facts and circumstances could alter how they are applied. If you have questions about the regulation of cottage foods in your jurisdiction, we recommend consulting a lawyer who can help you navigate the process.
How To Ship A Pie
Shipping a pie requires two boxes for double protection and plenty of cushioning materials. We explain how to ship a pie below:
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How To Sell Food Online: A Comprehensive Guide
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More often than not, a new ecommerce entrepreneur is thinking about a cool invention for solving problems somewhere around the house. Or maybe theyre considering ways to source products for their online stores from China and amaze customers with service, speed, and quality.
Yet, its not too often you hear about selling food online.
And since this is the case, theres a limited amount of information on learning how to sell food online.
Grocery stores are beginning to figure out ways to deliver batches of food to doorsteps.
The reality is- this has been around for awhile with Peapod, but companies like Amazon and Imperfect Produce are getting in on the action as well. Even more common would be less perishable foods, such as frozen hot dogs and beef, subscription boxes with trail mix beef jerky, and the wide range of other foods you might be able to find at your grocery store.
I bet you might have noticed full meals prepared or separated into servings for you to cook later .
Regardless of the type of food that you plan on sending out to customers, there are conventional rules to be followed. The easy part is thinking about what to sell, and it isnt that difficult configure your own online store.
So, keep reading to learn how to sell food online.
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Helps You Reach New Customers And Increase Sales
When you sell your baked goods online, you can reach new potential customers outside your town! Happy customers who loved your grandmother’s apple pie recipe or your fantastic cake decorating skills will leave positive reviews and feedback on your site.
This will encourage new customers to try out your goodies for themselves. Selling cakes online can is a great way to increase your online presence to a broader audience.
For my business, online sales grew to 75% of our business and were vital during the pandemic when we were short-staffed.
How To Start An Online Bakery: Lessons From Kerbside Creamery
Starting your own online bakery business is much more difficult than, say, selling digital products or reselling stuff on eBay. Why? Because you need to know your way around the kitchen. Being able to bake something delicious is a prerequisite before you can even consider trying to make a business out of it.
But the good news is once you’re ready to get started you can do so on a small budget. Sure, as Jonathan and Gabrielle found, there will be plenty of “super early mornings and super late nights” but you can get through it if you’re dedicated.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Making Money From Homemade Food
Weve rounded up questions to the most commonly asked questions about how to make money from food made in your own kitchen.
In most states, it is legal to sell food prepared in your home kitchen. Cottage food guidelines allow residents to sell homemade foods directly to consumers up to a certain amount of sales from around $75,000 to $250,000 in various states.
Some states allow home cooks to sell to restaurants and other retailers and some dont. Look up the cottage food restrictions for your state or check with the department of agriculture or health.
Hand out free samples of your goods for workplace breakrooms like offices, schools and stores. Give individually wrapped items for parties. Use your social media to promote your item for holiday gifts for friends, family members, teachers and other people.
Renting a commercial kitchen to prepare your goods will vary from around $15 to $45 an hour.
Katherine Snow Smith is a freelance writer and editor in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and author of Rules for the Southern Rulebreaker, Missteps & Lessons Learned.
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Keep Improving Your Production Process
Keep a critical eye on your process. You may notice that a time saver actually costs you in other ways.
I was using a food processor but then at the end of a block of cheese it gets slimy and balled up and I was losing about two ounces of cheese I couldnt use because it lost the texture, Thompson said. So I hand grate everything now. I cant afford to lose that cheese.
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How To Quit Your Day Job And Launch A Bakery
If youre an avid baker who impresses friends and family with your ridiculously delicious, gooey cookie bars, you might want to think about a career in baked goods. Perhaps it seems impossible when youre whipping up dozens of crazy colorful sweet treats in your tiny apartment kitchen, but as Melissa Ben-Ishay, founder of Baked by Melissa, can tell you, sweet dreams do come true. This week, in our How to Quit Your Day Job series, we chat with Melissa about how she turned her love of cupcakes into a successful bakery.
How To Sell Baked Goods On Facebook
Facebook is the best opportunity for a person who wants to sell baked goods online. It is the largest social media platform and has separate policies for businesses.
Facebook will not only let you start your business here, but it will also help you in promoting your business most effectively.
You can follow following of the steps to start selling baked goods online on Facebook:
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Start Marketing For Foodies
Okay, so lets assume that your online store is ready. It doesnt end there.
In fact, were only getting started. This step can turn out to be a nightmare because it takes effort and understanding of the various processes if youre a newbie to online marketing.
But, have no fear. Here are some tips.
When marketing for your food business, much of it can be done through local markets and street fests. However, the online work should all start with your email list. This way you can start grabbing customer information right from the beginning.
In addition, we recommend launching a food or recipe blog, where you occasionally share recipes your customers can make with the ingredients you sell on your site. This not only provides content for your blog, email newsletter, and social media pages, but its a great way to recommend your products.
Social media marketing is great, but coupons, blogs, and local events are key for food sales. Some people are going to stumble upon your recipes and blog posts by chance, and thats a great way to get the word out.
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Variable Costs For Home Bakers
Variable costs are costs that increase when your production increases.
Heres a tip to help keep track of your variable expenses:
Include all your variable costs in your recipes. In addition to recording the cost of each ingredient used, add your variable costs like cupcake liners, parchment, packaging, and labels to each recipe.
Keep reading to find your sales price by combining all the total costs
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Can You Ship Baked Goods
You can ship baked goods. If packaged well and sent via priority mail or overnight shipping, most baked goods will keep their freshness and form. It is best to freeze baked goods before shipping them. Sturdy items such as quick bread, unfrosted cakes, fruit/nut pies, cookies, and bars are the best-baked goods to ship.
Especially around the holidays, sending baked goods in the mail is a popular way to show each other we care. Whether youre starting an online bakery, hoping to tap into remote markets, or simply want to send your loved ones a care package, reference back to this guide to ship your baked goods. With these best practices in mind, your goodies will arrive fresh, intact, and safe to consume.
The Best Way To Sell Baked Goods Online
You dont have to worry about choosing the best way to sell baked goods online when you can sell them everywhere. Run an Ecwid store on your own website, on popular social media platforms, or through marketplaces like or eBay. Open your very own Instant Site in just a few minutes or simply add a Buy Now button to your blog. Choose the sales channel that works best for you and expand your business plan as you grow.
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How To Calculate Your Sales Price For Home
Your sale price for home-baked goods is calculated by marking up your cost of goods sold. Youll need to know the cost of goods sold for each bakery item that you sell.
The formula for cost of goods sold is:
cost of goods sold=ingredient cost + labor cost + variable costs + overhead
To mark up the cost of your product by a percentage, you multiply COGS by the percent markup and add that number to your CoGs.
+ CoGS= Sales Price
Heres what a mark-up looks like with my sugar cookie recipe:
- CoGS for 1 cookie
- 50 % mark up + 0.66-$0.99
Applying a 50% mark on a cookie that cost me $0.66 to produce, yields a sales price of $0.99 per cookie.
Share What Makes Your Recipes Special
For many consumers, the story behind the business is just as important as the product itself. For Butter + Love, sharing the details of where my recipes come from and how I make my delectables has helped me entice repeat customers, create brand loyalty and generate press. On Etsy, the best way to tell your story is through your About page. You can use the space to talk about the technique or methods that you use, and share your personal philosophy on baking or cooking. If youre struggling to tell your story, you could always talk about the ingredients and where they come from. Are the herbs you use grown in your backyard? Do you work with local farmers? Customers will love reading about the details.
Editor’s note: This article first published on the Seller Handbook in 2014.
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Our Online Bakery Experts
Kerbside Creamery launched during Sydney’s first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Unable to leave the house, and figuring their local community could use some treats to brighten their spirits, siblings and co-founders Jonathan and Gabrielle decided to start selling delicious baked treats to their neighbours.
To say the response was overwhelming would be an understatement. Within a year, the pair were able to buy an adorable pink food truck and launch a fully-functional online bakery delivering their uniquely decadent cheesecakes across the entire city. Now with hundreds of orders a week, they’ve come a long way from handing out cakes from their Cecil Hills home.
Having started their bakery business from home and grown it to something of a city-wide phenomenon, Kerbside Creamery’s success is an example of what can be done with a great idea, a well thought out web presence and a whole lot of hard work.
Going Public With Your Business
If the demand for your baked goods increases and you wish to increase sales, you might have to go beyond the scope of the Home-Based Business Scheme.
For example, instead of purchasing the ingredients yourself, you might require a supplier. You might need a larger delivery vehicle, or the assistance of extra staff. Finally, you might also need an area where customers can purchase and consume your food.
If you choose to go beyond the scheme, you will need to obtain a Food Shop Licence. To obtain this licence, you are required to submit planning permission approval from either the URA or HDB, and documents such as a tenancy agreement.
Apart from this, you will have to comply with the Code of Practice on Environmental Health when renovating your premises, and your staff will need to obtain food hygiene certificates.
For more information, check out our article on the legal requirements to open a restaurant in Singapore.
Incorporating and operating a business is expensive. Therefore, you should be sure to do so only if you have the funds, along with a reasonable prospect of success. Important considerations include the costs and location of premises, operating costs and the level of commitment that you are willing to put in. Starting a full-fledged business is a huge leap compared to a home-based one that is governed under the Home-Based Business Scheme.
With all this in mind, the trust and demand for home-baked cakes, muffins, cookies and brownies will surely increase.
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Selling Homemade Confectionery On The Internet
In addition to having a website or profiles on social networks, you have to implement strategies to sell homemade confectionery online.
The image you promote your products and your business is what will motivate customers to order from you.
Study the competition and promote an innovative business, with proposals for traditional cakes and for people who like to try new things. Another tool that can be developed is email marketing, to send offers and promotions to customers every week.
Even if your forte is selling cakes online, dont forget to participate in events and fairs so that you never leave the face-to-face contact with the customer.
Smart Tips On How To Sell Baked Goods To Coffee Shops
Do you own a bakery or you bake from home and you want to sell to coffee shops? If YES, here are 20 smart tips on how to sell baked goods to coffee stores. According to reports, the U.S. bakery industry includes more than 2,800 commercial bakeries with combined annual revenue of about $30 billion, along with about 6,700 retail bakeries with annual revenue of about $3 billion. With the growth of the industry and revenue opportunities, the need for bakeries to set themselves apart with market specialization is becoming very huge.
However, one of the biggest advantages bakeries have over other food-centric businesses is their unique ability to market their products. Profitability for individual companies is determined not only by the efficiency of operations, but marketing efforts as well. Bakeries are known to make a certain amount of profit per item sold. In many bakeries, the revenue from beverages, including coffee, tea, juice, and other specialty drinks, is even greater than the profit from baked goods themselves.
According to reports, individual baked goods generally range from $2.00 to $5.00, depending on the cost of ingredients and also the demographic where your shop is located. Generally, the cost of labour and ingredients should be around 30-50% of the final sale cost. This means a treat that costs $1.50 to make could sell for anywhere from $3.00 to $4.50.
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