Hi

I am new to this website I am hoping somebody can help me.
I have an alcohol beverage that I make. Where I came from we serve it at weddings parties special ceremonies communions and other casual activities. it is made out of real ingredients from scratch except for the alcohol part but it is a liquor. I made it and offer it to people for free now they are willing to pay for it. I want to commercially bottling this drink. I know it is an open market for me I do not have competitors the drink is delicious and easy to sell and have the Island flavor all over it.
my question is how can I find an investor that can really help me putting this delicious drink in the market? and helping me with licencing and the whole bottling production. Because I know in the US selling alcohol without a licence is illegal I need to get the right direction and hopefully make my dream come true.
I know I have a real product If I can get all my licencing and the right help things will be great.
thank You

If you are thinking about providing any alcoholic beverages you will need to contact your alcholic beverage commission, FDA to get information. Foods with alcohol in them such as rum cakes, etc are not regulated by ABC, but by local, state and county health departments and maybe FDA depending on where you are wanting to sell them. You would be required to have a commercial kitchen, not from your home, in some states commercial equipment is required and you might look into purchasing used equipment as it is about 50% cheaper. Another way to go is to find a church kitchen which is licensed and ask to use their kitchen during the week if you are only going to send out food and not need seating. Keep in mind that you will have to store the food on premises and not in your home. Also, know that others also regulate a kitchen, such as the Fire Dept., building inspection, planning & zoning, so do some legwork. Set up a drawing and show it to your health inspector and they can be of immense help. I have been a registered sanitarian for 37 yrs and if you need any more help let me know. Good luck
Sandy

I can't speak for specifics to the alcoholic drink itself, but I can speak to your "protections" for the recipe.

There are none.

Anyone, including Seagrams or Jack Daniels, can at any time purchase your product, chemically analyze it, figure out what is in it and start producing it commercially, without your permission. That is the reality of competition in the recipe world. The only protections you have for a written recipe are copyright, and that only pertains to someone else publishing your words, as if it were a poem. They can rewrite your recipe, changing the way it is written and it becomes their copyright.

That said.

My suggestion to you is to create the product, market it in florida and own the florida market, then once you have established that market move out of state, state by state building your customers as you go. And don't be surprised when your product comes up on the big boys radar and they start to copy your recipe... it WILL happen. Count on it. Every time we come out with a new product our "competition", within 6 months, copies (or rather, attempts to copy) our product. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

That said, I will make note of the fact that simply using a church kitchen is only good if the kitchen is registered and approved for such a commercial use.

Your local food inspection agency will help you with the details and rules you need to follow.

Good luck with it.

Tina Brooks, VP Marketing
Brooks Pepperfire Foods, Inc.
Makers of Peppermaster Hot Sauces
http://www.peppermaster.com

Eat more peppers!