Food Product Business, Approaching Woes

[Mack1987]

Hey guys,

I'm starting a food product business with the end goal being to get this product on store shelves across the country at various retailers. But since I'm just starting out my plan is to approach small local markets and sell them the product myself. My product is suited for Cafes, Bubble Tea Shops, Bakeries, etc. Any advice on how I should approach these businesses and sell them the product essentially. Do I email them (most don't really have contact info anywhere or don't even reply to emails), do I call them, do I just show up with product in hand, give them samples, chat with them a bit, leave a business card? Do I follow up? Is this a viable strategy to get myself in the market?

I'm not branding the product at the moment, this is meant to be a market feeler. If I can get 10-20 committed vendors I'd shift focus to branding the product and I would try and approach bigger retailers at that point in time. At least that's the plan as I've formulated it now, but I'd love to hear some opinions on the matter. I also plan on selling the product at events, fairs, and farmer's markets in the near future.

Cheers,


Mack

[Fulcrum]

Everything that you asked about doing you need to start doing.

What's the product?

[vangogh]

What Brad said. All of the above can work. I think the best approach is going into the locations at a time when they aren't busy and bring samples. Nothing is going to sell a food product like letting people taste it.

[Business Attorney]

You left off one choice - snail mail. If you can't get an email address, you can certainly get a street address. Unlike a phone call (which is a good follow up), a mailing can give your audience a visual of your product. I get plenty of mail every day from companies that are obviously sophisticated and well-financed enough to have done testing and know that their mail campaigns still work for them.

[kevin@sits]

It all depends on.
What's their need?
Why should they buy your product?
How far do you want to go to with this?

[Mack1987]

It all depends on.
What's their need?
Why should they buy your product?
How far do you want to go to with this?

Thanks for all the input.

Kevin, I'm not well versed in this but I imagine their need is like any other cafe - to buy products that sell and that have a reasonable margin on them. I can't answer "why they should buy my product" with any certainty right now, but what I will tell them is that it's a seller ... moves off the shelf quickly, people love it (I'm trying to get some testimonials from end customers on it that I can show them as part of a sales package along with some sales numbers I'm trying to pull together from a small test market), margins are good (at least I think they are), etc.

I want to go with this as far as it'll take me.

On the topic of margins, however, what is considered a good margin for the retailer? How much do they expect to pocket after selling a product they bought for, say, $3. $1? $2? double? I'm curious what you guys' take on this is.

Cheers.

[Mack1987]

You left off one choice - snail mail. If you can't get an email address, you can certainly get a street address. Unlike a phone call (which is a good follow up), a mailing can give your audience a visual of your product. I get plenty of mail every day from companies that are obviously sophisticated and well-financed enough to have done testing and know that their mail campaigns still work for them.

Snail mail. Great idea!

[Fulcrum]

I repeat my previous question:

What's the product?

[Mack1987]

I repeat my previous question:

What's the product?

It's a dessert. I'm working on this with someone else and they want to stay hush about it, sorry.

[Fulcrum]

It's a dessert. I'm working on this with someone else and they want to stay hush about it, sorry.

Really? Its not like I'm asking for the recipe.

If you, or your partner, can't/won't share beyond saying "it's a dessert", you're going to have a hard time putting marketing material together and pitching possible customers. It's like me walking into a sawmill and saying I've got a product that will improve your efficiency and should reduce scheduled downtime but I won't tell you what it is until I get a firm order.

[MosheC]

That's a good point. Not Disclosing what the product is can have other downsides. Besides making it harder to make a sale you don't know what people's feedback to it is. Meaning it could seem like a great product to you but you might end up seeing the people just don't like it.

As far as the margin. A healthy business will sell the product for three times you're asking price. I have to take into account the taxes they have to pay and their possible downsides. In addition, when selling a food product you have to take into account that there will be some returns. If the product doesn't move off the shelf too long and get spoiled the business will expect you to take it back or replace it.

[turboguy]

Please attach one of he deserts to your next post so we can give it a taste test and let you know how we like it. Personally just knowing it is a desert is specific enough. I have experience in a number of different industries but never the food industry. It can be a tough field. My best estimate is the retail price should be at least 3 times your cost to make it. From that you will have to give a discount to the shops and stores that sell it and that will likely be in the 25-40% range.