Selling Preserves for Charity - help please

Maidenover

Hi everyone
I started making home made preserves about 3 years ago when I retired. This led to me selling to friends and ex work colleagues to raise money for a couple of animal rescues I support. I also sell hand knitted items for same purpose.
However, I have now hit a big problem in that the majority of Craft Fairs I have tried to book require Public & Product Liability Insurance and Hygiene Cert plus Hygiene Rating from Local Council.
I make very little profit on the sales and everything I do make goes to the charities so all these extra costs are making me wonder if it is worth doing - which is a shame.
I have phoned my local Council about the Hygiene Rating and they tell me it is for Registered Businesses only. I can get a Hyg Cert online by completing the course for around £20 and understand that the Insurance from G M Imber & Sons (Market Insure) is £55. Can anyone advise me if this is the cheapest form of Insurance please?
I was only able to donate about £200 in the last 18 months from the sales as there are so few outlets open to me that don't require these Insurances etc so if I am to continue then I think I must bite the bullet and pay these fees out of my own purse.
Plus of course it is peace of mind when selling to the Public.
Any thoughts or advice on this would be much appreciated.

Savvy_Sue

Rather than paying these costs from your own purse, why not deduct them from your profit on the sale of preserves before you pass anything on to charity? You'd need to keep careful records and be upfront that it's the profit you pass on, but I can't see why not.

paddyrg

The food handling course advice from the food standards agency suggests the following for training sources http://www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/caterers/training/#.UmogT7FwbqA so you might find other providers there, the council or a local college may even do a cheap hands-on one.

Insurance, £55/year isn't a bad offer but have a look in the insurance topic here, and shop around. I'm in a riskier industry and pay about that much, so you may find better options.

But they're not your personal cost, they're from the profits. The food handling is a one-off cost, insurance every year, but it opens up new opportunities for sale, could be worth it.

Also, check in with your local WI, they have a lot of home bakers and will know all there is to know. They may even have group insurance and you just pay a weekly amount towards using the stall.

greyteam1959

I might be wrong but can you not do the Food Hygiene Certificate
online now ???

earthstorm

mervyn11 wrote: »

I might be wrong but can you not do the Food Hygiene Certificate
online now ???

yes you can

http://www.food-hygiene-certificate.co.uk/

FatVonD

I'm no expert on this but if you are getting into the realms of selling at places requiring a food safety certificate then I *think* all your jars etc will need to be new and not reused so this will add further expense.

Like I say though, I'm no expert but I know this was a problem a friend came up with when wanting to sell infused oils/vinegars etc.

paddyrg

FatVonD wrote: »

I'm no expert on this but if you are getting into the realms of selling at places requiring a food safety certificate then I *think* all your jars etc will need to be new and not reused so this will add further expense.

Like I say though, I'm no expert but I know this was a problem a friend came up with when wanting to sell infused oils/vinegars etc.

Possibly more to do with passing of and trademarks than public health - if you put homemade jam in a Robinson's jar that could be seen as passing off, but generic honey jars without lids should be fine.

earthstorm

make sure the labels are moved and that the jar does not have and branding imprinted in the glass and then use a dishwasher to clean them, they should be OK, but then if you want to make a living you will need to look at ordering jars in.

jackyann

I am not sure exactly who you spoke to at your local council & what you asked them. This could be relevant, as I understand (and I *may* be out-of-date) that some home-made things are covered by different legislation, in order to enable things like WI markets & small enterprises such as yours.
I wonder (and I could have the wrong end of the stick) if the issue is with the people running the craft fairs who are putting a blanket policy in place.
If this is so, then talking generally to your local council about the rules, and the charities about outlets, might lead you to be able to sell elsewhere. Some councils or local organisations have occasional fairs aimed at providing outlets for charities.
If not, then unless you want the publicity, I would stop doing the fairs, and rely on word-of-mouth.

earthstorm

I do many fairs throughout the year and even organise a couple of fairs. if any trader inc. charities want a stall that offers food products then they have to provide a copy of their require Public & Product Liability Insurance with their application ( this is a requirement of the insurance and local authority agreements to run the fair). This does no apply to non food stalls, but all stall holders must have their own require Public & Product Liability Insurance

greyteam1959

FatVonD wrote: »

I'm no expert on this but if you are getting into the realms of selling at places requiring a food safety certificate then I *think* all your jars etc will need to be new and not reused so this will add further expense.

Like I say though, I'm no expert but I know this was a problem a friend came up with when wanting to sell infused oils/vinegars etc.

You will NOT be able to use secondhand jars or bottles.