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Over and over, when approaching new wholesale buyers, new (and existing!) food businesses make easily correctable tactical errors. Here are the top six pitfalls: As the founder, you’re excited to get a new account. That’s understandable. Saying “yes” to accounts that are outside your region, not aligned with your known target customer, beyond your current…
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What’s the best way to measure success? Do you look forward at the distance between where you are and where you want to land (the gap), or do you look backwards, measuring the gains you’ve achieved since you began? When measuring success, if you’re anything like me (or most people), you measure the gap, obsessing…
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Does this sound familiar? “I have this dream of starting a food business. Of being a foodpreneur. I’ve been thinking about making my granola for people; everyone wants my granola, everybody asks me for it.” Is this a good time to start a food business? It’s spring. New You? The barriers to entry for starting…
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Wholesale buyers are busy. Don’t roll your eyes or get fussy. I know. We’re all busy. Right now, you’re saying, “It’s their job to find new products for their shelves.” Their job goes way beyond finding new products. Why it’s important NOT to be high maintenance. Buyers are less likely to work with you. To…
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Here’s a look inside Crafted Kitchen. Beyond the stainless steel and commercial-grade equipment, this is where magic happens. This isn’t just a space for cooking; it’s a nurturing ground for dreams, camaraderie, and shared accomplishments. Imagine a group of culinary enthusiasts coming together, not just chefs and food entrepreneurs, but also product makers, consumer packaged…
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If it’s your goal to sell your product, in large quantities, to retailers and distributors, or if you have dreams of getting your product into the hands of more people, let’s get your product ready for wholesale. We’ve seen too many businesses enter the wholesale journey ill-prepared. Ultimately, that does more harm than good. There’s a…
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Mark Twain said, and I paraphrase, “If you need to eat a frog, eat it first thing in the morning, and if you have to eat two, eat the bigger one first.” If you’re working on your business, you’ve got to learn to do this…eat the frog. Here’s what it means: we all have things…
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Running a small food business involves the ability to balance your passion for your product with the pragmatism of being a business owner. At times, the need to increase prices, both wholesale and retail, is an unavoidable reality, so let’s look at some of the nuances of when and how. Step 1: Do you really…
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After years in the food industry, I’ve seen a lot of mistakes made by well-intentioned food entrepreneurs. I’ve made many myself. Here are 25 mistakes and suggestions for avoiding them. 1: Not thinking through the idea thoroughly enough. It’s not enough to have a great idea. In fact, that’s just the spark. For the spark…
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I have helped hundreds of food business entrepreneurs and now I want to help you make your food business dreams a reality. Whether you want to be successful at farmer’s markets, online or store shelves, we believe Crafted Kitchen (and this blog) is your secret ingredient. We can show you how to avoid an expensive…
