Jam/Chutney Business

cinnamonbone

Hi Everyone

Since my husband cannot seem to get a job in the current climate we are considering setting up our own business making jams and chutneys. This would have to be done from home, using our own kitchen etc..

I was wondering if anyone had any good advice on the do's and dont's and what are the essentials.

would we have to re-vamp the kitchen to comply with food standards and has anyone had any dealings with this new labelling law, sounds very complicated.

Any advice is really appreciated.

Cheers guys
Cinnamon

DPJames

Is there a market for jam and chutney? I only ever see the stuff at fetes and fairs and i never see many punters flocking to the jam and chutney stand.
I'd find out if there is enough of a demand first to make it financially beneficial before doing anything else.

nat21luv

i agree with DPJames, that was the first thing i thought-'is there even a market for that?'

the key to a successful business is research-you can never do too much research!

if your determined to do it them you must have a niche, your has to be the jam that stands out on the shelf. low cal? sugar free? chunky jam/chutney? (i think theres already a no bits jam) you'll have to have a think!

davester

And like any food business you would need to have a hygine certificate, thus food storage,prep areas have to be passed. A neighbour runs a fleet of burger vans and they have regular inspections of the vans and food storage/prep area. Would also need insurance incase someone sues for foodpoisoning.

davidjwest

I paid £2.95 last week for a jar of chutney as I love the stuff!

So, yes, there's a market of fools like me

The key is to sell it on the fact that it's home made and use the best quality ingredients you can and make sure it looks like it is the best quality with the packaging etc.

paulwf

The Cash From Baking thread is probably worth a read as that covers EHO inspections and labeling to some extent.

There does seem to be a market as I have seen a couple of jam/chutney stalls at our farmers market for the last couple of years. I think you need to do a trial first and work out your exact costings and the price you will sell at. One new stall set up and the prices were way too high and put me off buying from them. You're going to need to buy your ingredients in bulk, preferably wholesale to keep costs down.

Think long and hard about if the number will add up as a full time job. If your husband wants to do this as a full time job lets assume you want to make a *net* profit of £15K a year. If you make 50p net profit a jar you need to shift 30,000 jars a year. Even at £1 net profit a jar you need to sell 15,000.

30,000 jars at 5 farmers markets a week for 48 weeks a year is 125 jars sold per market. Very unlikely...so perhaps more suited to making a few extra pounds than a proper income?

davidjwest

You could grow your own ingredients, that would certainly be a good selling point and would increase your profit margins a lot - probably wouldn't be viable to do this all the year round of course but worth considering.

hermum

Growing your own could be a bit of a minefield nowadays I think. A neighbour of mine was asked to leave a car boot sale as she was selling home grown produce & didn't have a certificate, the guy running the sale said that she would have to have a cert to prove what pesticides if any are used.
There could be more to it than that, it seems to be yet another ridiculous piece of legislation.
No pesticides were used on hers as the multitude of bugs would show but she wasn't allowed to sell it.

foreign_correspondent

the problem with it is how time consuming it is - I sell a bit ocasionally through the local country market stall - I also make some chilli sauce that people like - however, using that as an example, I sell it at £2 for a 200ml bottle, a bottle and lid costs about 20-30p minimum, a batch makes seven bottles, and takes a good couple of hours to make. I grow the ingredients myself, but if I didnt it would perhaps cost me about 80p a bottle just for the ingredients. Add on the cost of labels, transport, stall rent and your time on the stall... and the profit margin is minimal. It certainly doesnt come anywhere near minimum wage. Chutney takes an age to make too, and it makes the house smell of vinegar for weeks... its ok as a hobby, but not much cop for moneymaking!

cinnamonbone

Thank you to everyone who has responded. It has been useul. I have done things for craft fairs and other stall events so am aware that there is a lot of time devoted for not a lot of income. However, isn't it better to spend your time creativly, rather than sitting around doing nothing all day and possibly making a few coppers for the piggy bank at the same time.

Jams and chutneys may not be the way to go, especially seeing as I have been told of so many new regulations about food labelling, hygiene, percentages of indrediants etc... I'm surprised with all the hoops that have to be jumped through that anyone makes Jam professionally.

At the moment we are trying to think of anything that would save money or bring in some.

Every little helps!!!

Take care all. XXX

bethesda

im maybe a bit late telling you this but it is posible to make a go of this as someone in our area does this - she started selling to famly and friends and has built up her business from there and sucessfully supplies the co-op who im sure you know support local businesses and suppliers

this is the business im refering to.........
http://www.jennysjams.co.uk/jenny/index.php