Four Tips to Help You Launch Your Food Startup

If you're launching a food startup, chances are good that what you do best is cooking, baking, or otherwise creating amazing food. The business side of food distribution, however, is just as important as creating delicious food. Luckily, there are a few tips that can help you get started on the right business track, so your product is easy to sell as well as scrumptious.

Packaging Matters

Make sure you have outstanding packaging. If you have delicious truffles, but they're sold in a little bag that falls over on the shelf, stores will never carry your product. Make sure that once you have all your recipes perfectly in line, you spend a good amount of time on your packaging, as well. It would be beneficial to hire a product packaging designer to design a package that will jump off the shelves and convince shoppers to buy.

Food Analysis is Essential

Serious food startups will do everything possible to make sure that their items are easy to sell on the shelves, and having thorough food analyses done in order to have reliable information you can pass on to distributors and customers alike is essential. Many food laboratories will perform chemical analysis, nutritional analysis, shelf life analysis, and many other testing services to ensure your food product is shelf-ready. Providing this information to your distributors will show you are professional and they will take you more seriously.

Bridge the Gap

Following trends is a popular marketing tactic that many food startups use in order to gain recognition for their food. However, it is often a better idea to fill a void in the market than to follow trends. Maybe everyone is creating salted mocha truffles, but if you're really good baking a particular kind of item that nobody seems to sell, you might want to market that, instead. When customers and distributors see the same thing over and over, they tend to tune it out, but provide them with something they haven't seen (or haven't seen in a long time) and you'll have their attention.

Don't Forget to Pay Yourself

Many new food companies are so eager to get their product onto store shelves that they price their item far too low and wind up unable to pay their bills, or unable to continue their business. While pricing is important (most distributors want to be able to mark up your item by 50 percent in the store), don't forget to set a price that covers all aspects of production and your salary, as well.