Start & Run a Home-Based Food Business. Mimi Shotland Fix

about a product direction, read through the following sections. For specific recipes, consult cookbooks, food magazines, and the Internet. If baking is your main interest, this book has some great recipes. The recipes included in the book are some of my best-selling baked goods with variations to help you create your own specialty items.

      The following sections include ideas for recipes, ranging in difficulty from easy to expert (some don’t even need a stove) and are intended to encourage your imagination.

      1. Foods Made without Heat

      The following items can be made without an oven or stovetop, and several are quite simple to do:

      • Bulk ingredients repackaged into consumer sizes (e.g., flours, seeds, pasta, candies)

      • Bulk ingredients mixed for snacks (e.g., trail mix, party nuts, dried fruits)

      • Spice and herb mixtures (e.g., vegetable or fruit salad dressing mix) — you could include recipes and menu suggestions with the mixes

      • Gift baskets with fruits, candy, jams, cookies

      • Homegrown or local fruits and vegetables repackaged into ready-to-use form; make fresh fruit or vegetable salads and salsas

      • Trays (e.g., breakfast, deli, vegetable, dessert) or brown bag and boxed lunches using store-bought foods; repackage dinners, snacks, or meals for dieters (be sure to include calorie information)

      • Dry mixes for bread, cakes, muffins, and cookies; include instructions with the mixes

      • Frozen or refrigerated dough; include baking instructions

      • Specialty cookies or treats such as rum balls or bourbon balls

      • Specialty drinks such as smoothies, juices, and lemonades

      • Frozen desserts such as ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet, gelato, ices, and sorbets

      2. Stovetop, Hot Plate, and Microwave Foods

      The following items can be prepared with the help of a small, inexpensive heating appliance:

      • Candy or fudge, including nut brittles, chocolate bark, haystacks, and patties

      • Dipped items such as chocolate-covered pretzels, potato chips, dried fruits, and purchased cookies (ever tasted a crème-filled chocolate sandwich cookie dipped in chocolate?)

      • No-bake cookies such as Rocky Road or peanut butter balls

      • Jams, jellies, preserves

      • Processed (i.e., canned, frozen, refrigerated) fruits and vegetables; fruit compotes, chutneys, sauces

      • Pizzelles, waffles, pancakes, or crepes made with small countertop specialty appliances such as a waffle iron, pizzelle baker, or crepe maker

      • Fried items such as donuts, beignets, fritters, or funnel cakes

      • Meal parts, such as salads, slaws, and other side dishes; or stovetop foods such as soups, stews, or vegetables (for more ideas on meal parts, see section 5.)

      3. Baked Foods

      The following list is an overview of the extensive baked goods category. The skill level for these items ranges from easy to expert:

      • Breakfast items such as muffins, coffee cakes, scones, biscuits, or sweet buns

      • Granolas

      • Breads such as artisan, yeast, or quick breads

      • Cookies, biscotti, brownies, bars, or whoopee pies

      • All-occasion cakes such as pound, bundt, layer, and sheet cakes

      • Specialty cakes such as wedding, anniversary, birthday, and graduation

      • Small pastries, cupcakes, and petit fours

      • Fruitcakes (you’d be surprised at the market for these holiday cakes)

      • Tarts, pies, and quiches (sweet or savory)

      • Hors d’oeuvres and canapés

      • Casseroles, vegetable dishes, entrées

      • Dog treats (really, there’s a market for these)

      4. Specialized Niches

      Another approach is to look at food in specialized areas, such as ethnic foods or foods for special diets. Specializing can help you think about food from a different perspective and perhaps come up with ideas for products not yet available in your community. If you already have an interest in one of the following areas, or something looks appealing, explore the possibilities.

      4.1 Convenience foods and meal parts

      Create a weeknight menu and offer delivery of hot, ready-to-eat foods. Or, instead of dealing with the concept of providing full meals, break it down into a narrow area of the meal. For example, specialize in main course casseroles or vegetable dishes. If these ideas interest you, read section 5. in this chapter, and sections 2.5 and 2.6 in Chapter 9.

      4.2 Ethnic foods

      You can create ethnic foods that are specific to certain cultures that most people don’t usually make themselves. There are many ethnic foods you could make such as salsa, baklava, naan, tapenade, or hummus.

      4.3 Health-oriented, allergy specific,and other special diets

      Health foods, a small but growing market, include foods that are whole grain, organic, natural, chemical free, trans fat free, vegan, and vegetarian, and are often related to the eat-local movement.

      If you have an interest in allergy-related foods, you must do research and work with a dietitian who can guide your product offerings.

      Other special diets include those for people who are diabetic, or those who must restrict certain foods such as salt. Here, too, you need to thoroughly research your potential products and talk to a professional dietitian.

      4.4 The seasons

      Take advantage of the different seasons when people like to celebrate special occasions and holidays. Keep in mind that most food products can be changed to fit different holidays. Sugar cookies can be baked using different cutters; basic cakes can have holiday-related toppers; candies can be molded into various designs. Sometimes simply using color is enough to market your regular products as holiday specialties, such as tinting your cakes and cookies green for St. Patrick’s Day or tying a red ribbon around your sweet breads for Valentine’s Day.

      4.4a Winter

      Many businesses thrive during the winter season. Homemade goods take center stage for the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, when many popular products sell themselves. Seasonal breads, decorated cakes, candies, and cookie trays are a specialty. Even fruitcakes (contrary to those silly jokes) are huge sellers.

      Although food products cannot be stored for long periods the way most consumer goods can be shelved, there are ways to increase your preparation time. For example, my fruitcake production begins in July. Biscotti and candies have an exceptionally long shelf life, as do dried fruits and spiced nut mixes. Making any of these products will allow you to produce more than if you had to make everything fresh during the relatively short holiday season.

      Don’t forget New Year’s celebrations (champagne cakes), Presidents’ Day (anything with cherries), and Valentine’s Day (chocolate and anything heart shaped).

      4.4b Spring