Rachel Wharton
Thinking about putting that favorite recipe of yours on the market? Here are a few nuggets of wisdom from Sarah Masoni, a flavor-and-marketing expert at the Food Innovation Center of Oregon State University.
Keep it simple
Many fledgling food makers try too hard, adding ingredients to their product just because they're new or popular.
Deliver on the promise
If you're calling your chocolate bar Raspberry Coconut Dream, those flavors should be easily identifiable when you take a bite. If you're marketing the product as healthy or wholesome, the ingredient list should follow suit.
Avoid excess baggage
Ms. Masoni advises clients to "put the food in a home, not a tomb." That means don't spend too much on packaging when you're just putting your product onto the market, or you'll end up without enough money to manufacture it. Start simple and plan for an upgrade as soon as you can afford it.
Enlist a taster
If you submit your food to a formal judging or send samples to a potential buyer, make sure a skilled taster samples the batch you're about to ship, so you can catch rancidity, staleness or other defects.
Lean on the experts
Buying perishable ingredients and processing them on a large scale is not the same as home or restaurant cooking; flavor and food safety can suffer. Many universities have food incubation or innovation centers that can offer advice. You can also ask a small-business development center at the local community college, or even the food-science department of any state university.
Money talks
When friends and family urge you to sell your barbecue sauce, that's a good sign. But the real test is whether they'll buy it. Ms. Masoni said, "When somebody says, 'I'll pay you 10 bucks if you make me a bottle,' that's when you know."
The writer is a freelance journalist,
food writer & editor
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