Resources, Tools and Examples
The cottage food industry is growing rapidly across the United States and throughout many provinces in Canada (if you're a farmer).
The following are a few links to resources, tools or examples referenced in Homemade for Sale Second Edition that might be helpful or useful to you when becoming a "Cottage Food Operator", or CFO.
When it comes to what's possible related to cottage food laws in your state, visit Forrager.com. Their easy to follow map (a sample of which is below, courtesy of Forrager.com) and summary is a great place to start. They also offer the opportunity to connect with other CFOs and put your enterprise on the map below. Visit Forrager.com for the latest updated map and their free mini-course.
Back-of-a-napkin Business Plan Template
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Some of the most innovative ideas or tastiest recipes never make it to our mouths because the people with them couldn’t get their ideas down on the drawing table or, worse yet, jumped into a business before thinking it all the way through. Please don’t let this happen to you. Use this template to complete a simple business plan based on the cottage food law in your state.
Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs can go to one of approximately nine hundred local SBDCs for free, face-to-face business consulting and at-cost training on writing business plans, marketing and regulatory compliance.
Incubator (Shared-use) Kitchen Listing and the authoritative "U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot" by Gregory Heller
While most food entrepreneurs will start in their home kitchen, you may find the need to expand into an incubator (or shared-use) kitchen. You can review the online list of kitchens for rent on The Kitchen Door and Kitchen for Rent. Worth reviewing as well is the extensive "U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot," authored by Gregory Heller. Heller is also the CEO for American Communities Trust.
Sample Incubator (Shared-use) or Commercial Kitchen Rental Contract
If you opt to scale up or find yourself needing to rent a commercially-licensed kitchen appropriate for the food product you make, you'll need to fully understand the rental contract or agreement you'll need to sign. Here's a sample contract from Stecoah Valley Food Ventures in North Carolina as an example. Each incubator (shared-use) kitchen or commerically-licensed kitchen will have their own version and requirements.
Sample Recipes from Farmstead Chef or other sources
As a CFO, you're just a recipe away from launching your business. No family favorites or recipes passed down through generations, no problem. The following recipes for jam, jelly, marmalade, salsa, pickles, cookies, bread and crackers could be a fun place to start experimenting to create your own version. Provided are links to recipes based on the following types of "non-harzardous" foods:
Press Kit for Cottage Food Operators
In addition to the Press Kit overview materials for cottage food operators are 6 Steps for Writing a Press Release, Tips for Great Photos, and a Sample Press Release Template for a Cottage Food Operator.
