Are you in the research phase of your food business? Here's the approach I like to use whether you're planning to open a food truck, restaurant, or food product. Research has helped everyone, from Einstein to Mendel, and of course today’s scientists. Now, it’s going to help you. Doing research allows you to test the market, do your planning, and enter the market with a product that, people not only love, but is priced right, and there’s tremendous value. Researching the food business. Here’s three quick reasons why research will save your life: 1. Market Size & Number [...]

Sometimes it's easier just to crank out new flavors, but is it the right business decision? If you make one flavor of salsa (or jam, or brownies, or sausage), then you know how tempting it is to add on a second flavor to expand your product line. You've got a sweet salsa, but it just takes a couple peppers and you have a hot salsa. It's that simple. But, should you expand your product line? Food businesses of all sizes struggle with this problem. Expanding your product line is a business decision. On one hand, you want more shelf space. But, [...]

Do you have the ability to produce 75,000 2 oz portion cups a month for an airline food service distributor in Chicago?" I received this email a few weeks ago. It started with my appearance in my alma mater's alumni magazine. I had a nice spread (page 10) if you'd like to read it. The article was about entrepreneurship - living the dream - and how Bryant is having great success with their own program. College promotion aside, let's get back to the email. It was from an alumni of Bryant University. He has worked as a broker to the [...]

Ni Hao! People around the world crave the rich and unique flavor of Chinese food. In the United States alone, this phenomenal cuisine thrives as a multi-billion industry, whether as a takeout market or as a food service restaurant market. It can also be found everywhere in the country, with over 23,000 locations.  If you're selling Chinese food from a food truck, trailer, or restaurant location then you've come to the right place. I've cooked over a hundred slogans and taglines to help you sell more Chinese food.  Chinese Food Slogans Chinese Food Taglines Chinese Restaurant Taglines Chinese Food Captions [...]

Whew! That was crazy. My family and I just returned from the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City. It was 3 days of pure madness. It felt like everyone and their sister came to try our mustard. In the end, I got an enormous list of contacts to follow up with and even a couple orders I've got to pack up (more on that below). We arrived Friday afternoon to hand-carry everything in (no way was I going to pay the HUGE handling fees charged by the union laborers). My parents and I set the booth up and [...]

With more than 23,000 retail bakeries across the country, you can launch your own mobile bakery in almost any market. An industry accommodating almost 170,000 bakers, and worth an estimated $423 billion a year, now you can sell bread as well as cake, cupcakes, and cookies anywhere. To help your baking business rise up, here are some of the greatest slogans ever created for bakeries and bakery trucks just like yours. So come and take your pick. Bakery Truck Marketing Slogans Home Bakery Marketing Slogans Funny Bakery Slogans Sweet Bakery Slogans Muffin Slogans Cupcake Slogans Cookie Slogans Croissant Slogans Bakery [...]

Keep them coming back for hard shell tacos. Turning one-time customers into lifelong customers is important for any small business. This includes those of you in the food truck and restaurant industries. Ready to take your customer loyalty to the next level? Check out these ideas. Strategy #1: Email marketing & coupons I love email marketing. LOVE IT. It’s responsible for 27.86% of my sales. Every email I send generates at least $300 in sales ­ some even close to $700 if they’re super­targeted. Email marketing works because your messages are being sent to people who are already [...]

10 reasons for self distribution. I got a call last week from an employee in the Seafood department of a large grocery store in Southern, VT. He was talking up our Jalapeno mustard to his customers at the fish counter until, one day, the grocery buyer could no longer bring it in because of a distributor switch (a company we don't sell through). That got me thinking: Why doesn't the grocery store purchase directly from me? The seafood clerk was psyched and I had control over another store. Which prompted today's article. One of the best ways to increase your gross [...]

This is 100% honest. All food businesses have problems you'll need to solve. Here are a few ways to solve one of the most common problems facing food businesses. Here are a few ways to solve these common business problems. The problems below are not sugar-coated. (Although that would be tasty....mmmm sugar.) These are real problems. And I'm sure some of you are experiencing them, too. If you are, I'd love to here what you've done to solve them. Here's what's going on: Problem #1: Our Mustard is too Expensive Shelf space is expensive. And retailers aren't going to put products [...]

There are a lot of reasons companies need insurance. They've got to protect their logo or company name, make sure they're computers are covered, and don't forget workman's compensation. But, for food producers, you've got to protect something way more important than logos and computers. You need to protect your customers. Yep - the people who enjoy your products every day. This is why product liability insurance is so important. I recommend getting it before approaching retailers to carry your product. Why you need insurance: 1. Bad ingredients If you've got recalled ingredients or spoiled ingredients that were used in [...]