Workshop Information

Sustainable Lifestyle Solutions Starting Up A Cottage Food Business

Saturday 12/07/2013 1pm until 4 pm

Katherine Anne Porter School 515 Farm to Market Road 2325, Wimberley, TX 78676 / (512) 847-6867 FOR MORE INFO CONTACT; SINGINGHEARTS@HOTMAIL.COM

sustainable lifestyle solutions

WORKSHOP

Starting Up a Cottage Food Business At#long#last#the#State#of#Texas#has#made#it#possible#for#anyone#to#develop#a# small#business#creating#their#own#recipes#at#home.#Sustainable#Lifestyle# Solutions#is#offering#a#one#day#workshop#on#how#to# get#started#in#the#business#of#home#cooking.#

On#September# 1st,#2013#the#“Cottage#Food# Law”# (Baker’s#Bill)#went# into#effect# in# Texas.# Now,#if#you#have#an#old#family #recipe#for#sweet#mustard#or#if#you# figured#out#exactly #the# spice#mix# your# grandpa# used# when# he#grilled# steaks#or# if# you# bake#the#best# biscuits#in# town,#you#can#start#a#small#business#without#a#commercial#kitchen…Food#From#Home.

Under#the #Baker’s#Bill,#there #are#no #government#inspections#of#your# kitchen,#but#you# do# have#to#have#a#“Food# Handler’s”# card# and# some #basic #training#in#food# safety.#There#are# restrictions# on# what# type#of# food# products# you# can# produce#and# on# how# you# can# sell# them.# While#not# specifically#required# by #the#Baker’s# Bill,# it# is# important# for# a# Cottage# Food#Business#to#establish#the#highest#standards#of#food#safety#and#product#quality.

This# workshop# will# give#you# all# you# need# to #begin# to# develop# a# small# business# from# home.# It# will# show# you# how# to# select# and# develop# your# product,# calculate# costs# and# profit# margins#and# how# to#create #a# market.#You# can# earn# up# to #$50K# a# year# under# the# Baker’s#Bill.

The#subjects#covered#in#the#workshop#include: • The$Texas$Cottage$Food$Law$ •$Developing$Your$Product •$Pricing$Your$Product •$Packaging$/$Design •$Where’s$The$Market?

•$Food$Safety$(Food$Handler’s$Card) Other$services$are$available$that$will$help$you$make$your$new$business$the$best$it$can$be.

Food$ Manager’s$Course#(Food#Manager’s#Permit)#Z# This#is#a# more#advanced#food# safety# certification.#The#course#includes#online#instruction#and#a#2#hour#class#with#a#test.

One$on$One#Z#We #can#help#you#create#a#viable#business#plan#or#work#directly#with#you#to# develop# and# market# your# product.#The#consultation# will# include# membership# in# Food# From#Home.

Food$ From$ Home#Z#A#network#of# Cottage #Food# Producers.#Members#have#access#to #any# of# the#perks# that# will# become#available,# such# as# discounts#on# bulk# ingredients,# group# insurance# and# CoOp# Farm# Stands.# Members#who#meet# the# highest# standards# of# food# safety#and#product#quality#receive#our#Certified#Good#Food#stamp#of#approval.##

“Shake the hand that feeds you.”

― Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto It seems to me that we have created a system for the production and distribution of food that has led us to a place where we no longer have a connection to the natural cycle. We are the consumers, we eat the foods that are placed on the table.

Many of us are realizing that depending only on an industrial food complex for one of the most basic requirements of Human existence is just plain stupid and more than a little dangerous.

Sustainable Lifestyle Solutions has been created to encourage and empower anyone who wants to help change the way we get our food. Please Like our Facebook page for more info, events, workshops and help us started. There’s no time like now.

Starting Up A Cottage Food Business The commercial food production industry has required food safety training and certification for many years. All commercial kitchens have to be inspected and permitted by State and/or local governments. Once produced, food products are required to be handled and stored in ways that insure that consumers are eating food that is safe and fresh as possible. These standards and regulations are complicated and costly. That has made it almost impossible for anyone, without access to a commercial kitchen, who wants to try to develop a small food business.

On September 1st, 2013 the “Cottage Food Law” (Baker’s Bill) went into effect in Texas. Now, if you have an old family recipe for sweet mustard or if you figured out exactly the spice mix your grandpa used when he grilled steaks or if you bake the best biscuits in town, you can start a small business without a commercial kitchen…Food From Home.

Under the Baker’s Bill, there are no government inspections of your kitchen, but you do have to have a “Food Handler’s” card and basic training in food safety.

There are also no requirements that you have any expanded training in Food safety. However, it is very important that your customers have confidence in your product. We will give you the basics of Food Safety (and a Food Handler’s Card), as well as some tips on how to go the extra mile.

First we will spend a few minutes exploring the Good Food Movement. Local, sustainable access to food has become vital to a community’s well being. We will explore the meaning of the word Nourish and how that should effect our decision as to whether or not to become a part of the solution. http://youtu.be/JvIcUdBzyI0 Next we will look at the Texas Cottage Food Law (HB 970), what it allows us to do and what restrictions it imposes. We’ll discuss how to determine if your product meets the standards set in the law and where you can market your products. http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/html/HB00970F.htm

Developing Your Product Before you decide to start up a Cottage Food Business you should know what you are getting into. Here we discuss some the things you’ll need to know, in order to make an informed decision.

1. First you must have a product. (This can be a family recipe or something you tasted on a trip to Mexico or anything else you really like) You just need something that you are sure people in your community want or need.

NOTES

2. Next you need to figure out how you are going to sell your product.

(The Texas Cottage Food Law 2013 limits how you can sell your product) NOTES

3. Determine how much product you want to produce by estimating your potential sales. (Start out with a conservative estimate. It’s better to sell out than to have leftover product) NOTES

4. Write out your recipe and list the steps (method)…start to finish.

NOTES

5. Create a list of ingredients. (Now would be a good time to find your purveyors and price your ingredients, don’t forget your packaging.)

NOTES

6. Make sure you have all the equipment and space you need to produce as much of your product as you need to meet your sales goals.

NOTES

Let’s Make A Product Your Dad makes the best salsa you’ve ever tasted and you’ve watched him make it for years. It’s simple, he dumps 7 ingredients in a blender, pluses a couple times and then runs it slow until it reaches just the right consistency, a quart at a time.

It’s fresh, full of flavor and when he makes it everyone wants to take some home.

Papa’s Salsa Fresca. Is it something that you could make some money selling?

Let’s figure that out.

Try to project how many jars you think you could sell. Start off with a conservative number. It’s better to sell out than to have product left over. Unsold product adds to the food cost. You would want to sell the product as fresh as possible, so let’s say you make it once a week. Say there are 10 people you know, family and friends who have tasted the salsa and would die to have some around all time. These people might go through 3 jars a month (30 jars/mo. Total). They might have a couple friends apiece who they can get hooked on the salsa and that’s an additional 60 jars a month.

Then if you can make some arrangement to have the salsa in a booth at your local Farmer’s Market, you might sell an additional dozen jars a week there, at first.

That’s a projected 128 jars per month or 32 jars per week. Your going to buy jars by the dozen and you would be buying 3 cases of jars, so make 36 pint jars per week, to start.

Now write out the recipe. You need to know your yield per recipe, list of ingredients and method (procedure). Take the list of ingredients and price the recipe. When pricing your ingredients, use the higher estimates in order to protect your food cost projections from price increases.

Papa’s Salsa Fresca Yield; 2 pints (36 jars = X18) / Prep Time 10 Minutes INGREDIENTS 1 #6 can diced tomato 2 limes juiced 1 bunch cilantro, chopped course 1 bunch green onion, chopped course 4 large garlic cloves, chopped course 2 pickled jalapeno, seeded and chopped course 1 Tsp juice from pickled jalapeno 1 Tsp ground cumin 1 tsp sea salt

$1.70 .30 .30 .40 .10 .10 .03 .15 .05

total

$3.16

The recipe makes 2 pint jars. The food cost for the product is $1.58. The jar itself will cost as much as $.60 each and the label $.10, so the total product cost is $2.28. If your sell price is $5, then you make $2.75 a jar (55%).

If you make 36 jars per week (3 hours work), you would see $99 per week in gross profit. That’s a little over $5,000 per year. (end part one / Let’s Make A Product)

Food From Home (FFH) is a network of small businesses that have been made possible by the “Texas Cottage Food Law 2013”. This network will develop “farm stands” and special events to merchandize Member products. Members will also receive discounts on bulk raw ingredients, packaging, production equipment and liability insurance. FFH will offer a “Good Food Certification” to Members who apply for it. This accreditation will give those Members access to more merchandizing opportunities and liability insurance discounts. FFH will work with Members to develop their products and production skills.

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Education Product Development Sourcing Ingredients Packaging / Design / Labels Insurance Vetting/Accreditation Marketing

Workshops / Seminars (Winter 2013) Starting Up a Cottage Food Business (Johndavid Bartlett) 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

The Texas Cottage Food Law Developing Your Products Packaging / Design Where’s The Market?

Food Safety for Home Production (Food Handler’s Card) Food Manager’s Course (Optional / Food Manager’s Permit)

Terra Cotta Cove (Shennandoah Diaz) 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Winter Garden Preparation Kitchen Gardens Planting for production The Zen of Gardening Medicinal Herbs Culinary Herbs

NOTES:

“We are on a mission to empower and educate people to live happy, healthy lives in harmony with nature and each other. By helping people live naturally, surrounded by beauty, individuals are able to free their creative energies and possess the strength and vitality to pursue their true passions. We seek to enable that drive and momentum by providing people with the means and knowledge to feed and heal themselves naturally, and to create an environment that inspires and rejuvenates.” Shennadoah Diaz

A sustainable food solution for every community has to begin with education. The thing is, we don’t have to invent anything new, we just have to relearn existing knowledge and renew old habits that we have let slip away. How and where we get the food we eat is the key to sustainable foods. The more of us who can get a “hands on” relationship with what we eat, the less hold the “industrial food complex” will have on us.

“Make a space in the flower bed for some basil. Plant a couple of peach trees in the yard. Grow Tomatoes. Seed the ground, nurture it, harvest it, eat what you can, put some up, feed your friends and sell the rest.” Johndavid Bartlett

SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE SOLUTIONS The Basics of the Cottage Food Business If you are considering starting up a small “Cottage Food” business from your home kitchen, this 3 hour workshop will give you all the information you need to make your plans. ü ü ü ü ü ü

The Texas Cottage Food Law Developing Your Products Pricing and Costs Packaging / Design Where’s The Market?

Food Safety for Home Production (Food Handler’s Card)

http://terracottacove.com https://www.facebook.com/sustainablelifestylesolutions singinghearts@hotmail.com

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