SECRET INGREDIENTS SOURCES FOR GROWING BEYOND COTTAGE FOODS
Hitting a profitable sales volume opens up your budget to a massive number of specialty ingredients
One obstacle to creating unique baked goodies (or dry mixes or seasoning blends) is lack of awareness about products that come directly from ingredient manufacturers or commercial distributors.
Located near Twin Falls, the heart of Idaho’s top 5 US dairy industry, is one of my favorites: Commercial Creamery. (Click graphic to see their website.)
(An interesting side note, Twin Falls is also where Chobani’s massive Greek yogurt factory is found.)
CLIMB PAST COTTAGE LIMITATIONS
If you are a cottage baker, you already know that regs may prevent you from adding cheese or other fresh ingredients to your bread, due to water activity and refrigeration requirements.
What if you could find a niche (and ingredients) to claim your own delicious specialty niche for home bakery? Or help you move beyond Cottage Foods?
What if you could get your choice of any of a couple-dozen different cheese flavors in a shelf stable powder … with some available in kosher, organic, clean label, or non-GMO!?
Do you see the additional opportunity with unique dry mixes to complement your matching unusual baked goodies?
“Creamery” is the name of their game, and so you will also find powders for cream, sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk, and even butter (powdered butter??)
Besides dairy, CC offers avocado powders (add some cocoa, starch, and a sweetener for a healthy mousse’ mix, anyone?)
And, they offer some spicy blends. How would a CHEDDAR JALAPENO TWIST natural powder work in one of your breads? Or re-package and offer a rub with their BBQ powder blend?
Commercial Creamery, like hundreds of bulk ingredients processors and distributors, caters primarily to manufacturers (including commercial bakeries), so you need to be prepared to “go big, or go home”. Most products are only available in 50lb bags at several $$ a pound, plus some serious shipping fees.
SAVED BY THE SAMPLES
While you can get some of these types of products in smaller doses (e.g. Amazon), the processing industry for ingredients and packaging is fortunately geared around SAMPLES! After all, you are not going to buy 50 pounds of a new ingredient (no matter how big or small you are) without testing and owning a successful recipe using that ingredient, right?
Ingredient companies like CC understand this and are ready and willing (even excited) to help get you there with free samples.... a FOOD INDUSTRY COMMON PRACTICE!
HOW TO WORK WITH BULK SUPPLIERS – NO LIMITS TO GROWTH…
Some ingredient suppliers will provide a website link to get samples. If none to be found, get to the sales rep for your region. At Commercial Creamery, this info is found here (click on graphic to get the full list):
A sales rep (whose job it is to get you what you need to grow into a customer) may assist you with samples. Or more often, will forward your request to someone in charge of the sample shipping program.
How you approach your sampling request is critical. After all, these producers are not in the business of sending free samples to folks who are never going to be customers.
To get freebies for your test kitchen, you will need:
· A business name that implies you are serious.
· An email address based on your business name.
What also helps:
· A business website
· A phone number with a voicemail that includes your business name.
When you email your request, be warmly direct, with focused attention to your needs, and to listening. This person sees a lot of companies come and go. Respect their knowledge and experience.
“Greetings, [name]!
“I am looking to try some of your interesting ingredients for a new line of savory bread mixes featuring cheesy (and/or spicy) flavors. Could you send me 2 or 3 samples of your powders? What do you recommend?”
Never make excuses, apologize for working from home, or mention cottage foods. Companies drool at the idea of becoming a supplier for the next foodie millionaire. But they often get riddled with flaky wannabes who just want the samples. (Then leave them on the shelf or consume for personal use – instead of real food product design, with commercial intent.)
Exhibit focus and perseverance in your communications. Be inquisitive and ask genuine questions that a committed person (like you) would want or need to know to use the ingredient product effectively.
When the company rep calls (your voicemail is professional and friendly, right?), they will ask screening questions, and what size of samples you want. (Pounders are most common.) Be focused, ask questions, listen attentively, provide your shipping info, and get your samples in the pipeline. Sometimes they will ask for shipping fees, especially if you want a large sample size.
Always verbalize your excitement, and ask for “any last suggestions for me, as I start this type of product line?” And get off the phone, don’t talk yourself (in your excitement) into saying something that might kill the deal. When the samples come, email your company contact with a “sample received”, and another thank you. Often, you may also have additional questions.
Follow up periodically with your food recipe testing progress.
Food industry folks know this game, they are used to it.
When you are ready to get serious about next levels of your business, go for it. One of the most exciting times in the growth of your enterprise, is when you start a serious line of baked goods and/or savory mixes, and you are storing ingredients not many foodies even know about.
That always makes me excited, and I get a warm fuzzy feeling in my wallet.
PS How do you find companies like Commercial Creamery?
Google for bulk “name of ingredient” manufacturers
Get involved with the closest chapter of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). Most food ingredient manufacturers are members, and IFT chapters typically offer an annual trade show with dozens or even hundreds of equipment, packaging, and ingredients vendors.
Subscribe to baking industry trade magazines.
Fun times! Enriching times!
PS If you want to grow into the dry mix business, check out my new Facebook Group: DRY MIX RICHE$!
Mal Dell
The MONETIZATION CHEF
Helping Foodies Cook Up Profits!