A surprising thing is happening across America; many foodies are trying their hand at baking from home to not only make extra income but sell delicious food products in their community. Today food crafters have more options when it comes to selling their specialty foods, and consumers are seeking out the unusual to compliment their daily meals. Visit any food cooperative, farmers market, or street food festival and you are bound to run across pickled okra, Plumhoney ®, chocolate truffle cupcakes and hot pepper cheese bread.
The new trend is to buy local, from local vendors enjoying foods that literally come from the vendor’s kitchen to your dining table. The owner of the Turtle Box Bakery, Abraham Palmer of Carrboro, North Carolina not only mills some of his own wheat; he is working diligently to make a difference in the community by introducing consumers to how products are made from the ground up.
There are home-based bakers like Lilian Chavira, of Gellocake in Okemos, Michigan, who crafted a special kitchen in her basement, so she could create a bakery business operated solely from home. These food crafters have no intention of operating a traditional bakery and prefer to build a loyal group of customers that will purchase their baked goods and spread support via word of mouth.
One of the easiest food businesses to start is a small bakery. They are potentially low risk and depending on where you sell your goods, products can easily be moved from kitchen to customer.
The top 10 states that have cottage food laws, not only permitting but promoting home-based baking and food processing include:
- Indiana
- Iowa
- New Hampshire
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wyoming
The first cottage food laws documented involved the state of Oregon with a 20 year history in the home food processing business and since 2009 the number of states creating "cottage food laws" as doubled. No doubt the struggling U.S. economy has played a pivotal part in motivating the increased interest in small food processing and home-based baking. It is something foodies can do from their home kitchen, allowing them to work around family obligations.
It should be pointed out that making a profit from a home-based bakery or home food processing business will not be easy. All too often food crafters assume that "if they make it, customers will come." Not so, developing any type of business, home-based or otherwise is challenging and involves that four letter work many wish to ignore; work.
There are few state records on how many home-based bakers and food processors there are across the nation, but one thing is for sure, as long as there is a market for unique specialty food products and fresh homemade baked goods there will be food crafters flexing their creative juices to make that next gourmet treat.
- Start planning your home-based bakery by asking the following 7 questions.
- What is your reason for starting a food business?
- What is your product?Where will you produce your product?
- What local, state and federal regulations apply?
- What impact will a home-based business have on your life?
- Do you have the necessary capital to fund this new business?
- Do you have the know-how to operate a small business? If no, are you willing to learn?
Below are a few things you will need to know to get started planning your home bakery business. Like any small business it is recommended that you write a business plan; if you don't know where you're going you will never arrive at your destination so this is not a step you will want to ignore.
You do not need a separate kitchen if you live in a state that allows home-based food processing. If you cannot process food from home by law you will need to work from a licensed commercial kitchen. These facilities are sometimes called kitchen incubators or shared use kitchen facilities.
Your local/state health department or state Department of Agriculture, the two primary regulator agencies for home food processing may ask for copies of your recipes as well as how you plan to make your products or your operational process flow. This process outlines every step you will take in making your baked goods from recipe to packaging and distribution.
You may sell your products to the general public and to retail outlets based on the rules and regulations of your licensing agency or unless otherwise stated by your state regulatory agency. Remember to also check zoning laws since some local laws do not allow you to operate certain businesses from the home location and most home-based food processing businesses or those operating in a licensed commercial kitchen will also need to have liability insurance to cover any and all mishaps that may occur.
The cost to start your home-based bakery will depend on how much equipment, supplies, utensils, you have on hand. Do you have the work area to operate a small bakery? There will be an initial investment since you may need supplies, ingredients and equipment; along with insurance. You will need some money to start your business; how much will also depend on the number and type of products you plan to prepare.
Operating a small home bakery involves a fair degree of planning, work, organization and investment. The type of bakery you operate will depend on the type of baked goods you like to produce. Are you a cake decorator, bread baker, pastry maker, candy maker or cookie baker? Everyone who has ever decided to become a food entrepreneur had to start somewhere and you are not different; so roll up your sleeves and get started. You might just be the next Mrs. Fields or Cake Boss.
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