Gifts in a Jar

sdonaldson100

Hi all,

Been lurking here for a while but this is my first post. Please be gentle!

I recently received a present of a jar of cookie mix and was thinking I hadn't really seen one like it before. So did a bit of an internet search and have found loads of info on making them up but very little on people actually selling them. Was wondering about making them myself- hopefully maybe two cookie recipes to start and a soup one and trying to sell them, may be just at car boots or something to start.

Anyways, the point of the post is to ask would you need a food safety certificate to put the ingredients into the jars even though you aren't cooking them? And do you think there's a market for this kind of thing?

Thanks in advance

xx

Emzycal

I'm not 100% on this,but I'd assume that (even if you aren't cooking it) you'd have to have some kind of license,for the simple fact that it's still foodstuffs and could have ingredients in it that are harmful,toxic/not prepared properly - any amount of things.

Basically,anything that involves you touching or altering the food in any way should need a license,I'd think.

durham_girl

Maybe if you got in contact with Trading Standards they might be able to advise you further

Ms_Chocaholic

I think it would be Environmental Health you would need to contact rather than your local Trading Standards

sdonaldson100

Thanks to you both for your replies.

That was really what I was thinking- if you touch it at all then you'd need a food hygiene certificate.

Environmental health sounds about right. Will get onto them tomorrow.
Kinda worried about the idea of maybe needing a special kitchen... :think: Sort of removes the possibilty of running it from home!

lozza1985

2 of my Aunties & a cousin run a food catering business (buffet style food) from my little Aunties kitchen, it is her normal kitchen, but I do know that she had to have it inspected and get a certificate. Though what certificate precisely I'm not sure! But it does mean that you can run food based businesses from home! Good luck with your venture!

paulwf

Have you worked out a cost price for all the ingredients and packaging and from there worked out what the retail price would have to be to make it viable? If you could post some figures then people here could give an opinion as to whether it may be viable or not.

What is your USP given that cake mixes can be purchased in all supermarkets? Will your be better quality or is the jar significant?

If it looks viable you could always try a farmers market to do some market research. IMHO a car boot isn't the right place for your product but I may be wrong.

Roderick_2

Hi there,
I'm a newbie here. Interesting discussion is going here. Hope i would get lot more things in further. Thanks for the posts.