There are plenty of stories of people who were able to turn a family or secret recipe of theirs into a business. Did you know that Chef Boyardee was started by a chef who used to sell his spaghetti sauce in milk bottles? Now the brand is worth over 60 million dollars and is found all over the world. Not everyone’s story will end this way, but if you have a good product with significant demand and you execute it properly, you could turn your recipe into a successful business as well. Let’s take a look at what you’ll need to do.
Research
The very first thing you will need to do is do some research. You cannot assume that there will be demand for your product just because yours is very good. If you have a great tomato sauce recipe, for instance, you’ll have to prepare to compete against hundreds of other similar products backed by mega-companies with huge marketing budgets. They can annihilate your product with superior product placement and brand visibility.
You also want to research your recipe. You want to make sure that people will actually like it, not just the people around you. Some will invest in focus research to test their recipes, but that only comes after you make sure that there is a space for this product and that you’ll be able to compete in it.
Look into Food Manufacturing
Next, you will need to look into how much you can expect to pay to manufacture your product and what the process will be like. Budget can vary greatly here and you can expect to have to pay anywhere between $10,000 to $150,000 just for your first production run.
Then, you can decide to work with either a manufacturer or a co-manufacturer. A manufacturer will prepare and package the product while a co-manufacturer will receive the product in bulk and package it for you. Besides, a manufacturer will be able to help you with compliance and knowing which regulations have to be followed.
Packaging
Next comes packaging. This is one of the most important parts of branding and marketing and it could make or break your product. In this case, you want packaging that not only looks good, but is environmentally responsible, easy to carry, and will protect your product.
Flexible packaging fits all these categories. It isn’t as bulky as other options which means that it doesn’t create as much waste and can be carried easily for cheap. If you believe flexible packaging is not high-end or professional enough, here are a few Companies That Thrive with Flexible Packaging. This should give you inspiration for yours and show you a few more reasons why it’s such a great option.
These are the core basics of bringing a recipe from concept to market. However, it takes a lot more to make a product successful, so you will have to invest money in expertise if you want to increase your chances of success.