homemade food business

tiddly_widdly

I know this should probably be on the small biz thread but to be perfectly honest I wanted the opinions of OS'ers first.

1. Do you think there's a market for homemade food, such as chutneys, mincemeat, christmas puds, cakes, melt in the middle chocolate puds etc?

2. Does anyone actually know anything about the legal side of selling homemeade food?

I'd appreciate any thoughts

Penelope_Penguin

tiddly_widdly wrote: »

I know this should probably be on the small biz thread but to be perfectly honest I wanted the opinions of OS'ers first.

I'd say Old Stylers are the last people to ask, as we're not your target market Whenever I go to the Farmers' market (to buy raw ingredients ) I look at the cakes and preserves and think "how much" :eek:

Sorry not to be of more help

Penny. x

thriftlady_2

I'm like Penny, I'd never buy something like that as I can make it just as well and cheaply, but loads of people do buy things like that. My local farmshop sells all those sorts of things and there's always someone in front of me buying them while I'm standing there with my leeks and carrots lol.

As far as I know you will need to obtain a food safety qualification and have your kitchen inspected if you are making food to be sold to the public. You also need a separate fridge to store any meat or meat products that are going to be sold to the public.

Good luck;)

maltesers_2

May I suggest you take a look at CountryMarkets

http://www.country-markets.co.uk/become-a-producer-c17.html

which used to be WI (women's institute famed for home produce)Market. There is a market for home produced food but to do it legally you have to follow rules and regs.

However, I have seen quite a few people selling home made food at car boot sales I don't know if they bend the rules or not.

Gigervamp

maltesers wrote: »

However, I have seen quite a few people selling home made food at car boot sales I don't know if they bend the rules or not.

Quite possibly. I've seen people selling soaps and bath bombs and I can tell by the lack of ingredients listing that they haven't got safety assessments and are selling illegally.

With regard to buying jams and cakes etc, I do sometimes buy them if the jam/chutney/cake sounds/looks nice and I do like to support other creative micro businesses.

Hatster

There are a couple of different people in our village that sell homemade food via the village shop.
One couple supplies the shop with all its jams and marmelades - these are sold at a fair but not cheap price, and all profits go to the church restoration fund. Used jam jars are returned to the shop by customers for re-use.
Another lady does cakes, pies and quiches which are sold in the shop every Friday.
(I usually buy jam from them, but not usually cakes etc. However, this week I'm going to buy a cake as I need one for an event and don't have time to cook. My husband has a tendancy to announce that he has 'supported local business' by buying himself a sticky bun for his tea.)
They both have had their kitchens inspected by the council, I think, but I don't think this is necessary for selling at 'country markets'.
Both ladies will both also do catering for events.

HTH

Beebop

You will need to get several things in order to sell homemade food:

1) At least a Foundation in Food Hygiene Certificate
2) Public Liability Insurance - you give someone food poisoning then they can sue you - worth the annual fee for peace of mind alone (£10 million minimum cover)
3) Get your kitchens inspected by your local councils EH dept. These are the people you want on your side!

I sell at a lot of fairs and markets and believe me EH are all over them and will ask you some questions. If you are registered with them then all well and good!! Also, a lot more fairs and markets are now asking you to provide proof that you have the above before you can get a stall.

That's the legal side covered. Again, I'll reiterate what others have put - you may be better asking on small biz board if selling homemade food is a good idea. Us Old stylers like to do it ourselves!!!!

P.S Forgot to add - you also need to preserve a small amount of all food (freezer will do) so that if anyone accuses you of making them ill, you can provide samples for testing that can prove you didn't!!!

Gigervamp

Gigervamp wrote: »

Quite possibly. I've seen people selling soaps and bath bombs and I can tell by the lack of ingredients listing that they haven't got safety assessments and are selling illegally.

Sorry for quoting myself, but if you see someone selling soaps etc, ask them about the lack of ingredient listing.

maltesers_2

Beebop wrote: »

You will need to get several things in order to sell homemade food:

1) At least a Foundation in Food Hygiene Certificate
2) Public Liability Insurance - you give someone food poisoning then they can sue you - worth the annual fee for peace of mind alone (£10 million minimum cover)
3) Get your kitchens inspected by your local councils EH dept. These are the people you want on your side!

If you start with Country Markets on a small scale you will probably only need the food hygiene cert and they can help with this. Membership (which only costs 5p) covers the insurance and if you only operate on a
'casual and limited' basis you kitchen does not need to be registered.

I popped into the local market this morning and was told that hygiene cert was not essential to start for cakes etc as long as you are studying towards it but it is essential for savouries. However, I did not check whether that is a local policy or general.

tiddly_widdly

thanks everyone, sorry I wasnt on earlier but we switched internet providers today so have been temporarily offline.
I know OS'ers do it themselves,but we are the sort of people who appreciate homemade grub and what goes into it. Still you are thinking along the same llines as I am. I tried to get onto the country markets site yesterday with no luck. Will give it another go.
thanks all

tiddly_widdly

Just found the country markets site. This looks perfect, thank you