I have an ideal about putting together some very healthy snacks for people of the go. Joggers, school lunches, bicycle riders, campers, etc?? How can I protect this ideal, how do I get packaging for this product, and how can I get this in stores for resale? Any help is appreciated thank you.

>I have an ideal about putting together some very healthy
>snacks for people of the go. Joggers, school lunches, bicycle
>riders, campers, etc?? How can I protect this ideal, how do I
>get packaging for this product, and how can I get this in
>stores for resale? Any help is appreciated thank you.

I have some good news for you and I have some bad news.

The good news is that if you have a good product, with good packaging, a good marketing plan, and you work your butt off, you can get it out there.

The bad news is that what you're suggesting is enormously difficult to do: You're going to have to create the food product, ensure your labels are up to snuff for wherever you are going to be selling the products. You'll have to register your processes with the FDA (for sale across State and international boundaries) you'll have to ensure that your labels and food products are eligible for sale and not restricted in your target markets and this all before you actually have any idea whether or not it will be profitable.

So... the good news...

You can do this...

Start off small. Never mind big markets... Take your product, package it for sale, contact your local small business development organization and they will help you with small projects, labelling rules, etc. Sell your products at your local markets, find some local retailers to carry your product wholesale and keep plugging away like that, going further and further afield until you establish a presence... If the product is good enough, it will eventually catch the right buyer's eye and voila... you'll be huge. But... it takes years to get there, even if you think you have the most spectacularily wonderful thing to hit the food market since sliced bread.

That said...

There is absolutely NOTHING that you can do to protect your product. I'm sorry to say. There is no such thing as legal protection for a recipe. So, the only way you can protect your product is to hope to get it out there, and marketed as far afield as you can get it BEFORE the competition figures out how to make it and bites into your profits.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in the food industry copying someone else's recipe (if you can) seems to be legal; because it happens a lot.

If you have any specific questions, do feel free to ask, I can help as best I can.

T

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

Eat more peppers!

Hi Peppermaster and thanks Your advice was right on target, I understand this is a very long process; I just want to make sure I?m getting the ball rolling in the right direction, with a little advice from someone that know what it takes. I will contact the SBA office in my area to talk to them about labeling my product, and any laws that pertain to this. As far as packaging goes what?s the best way to get it packaged, to give it that nice professorial look?
Thanks again.

Well, we do our own packaging and function as a small batch Co-packer up here, so you might want to have a look in your area for someone to do it for you, or set yourself up so that you are doing it yourself.

You'll want someone who is not only up on the rules but up on branding as well... If you decide to use a co-packer you'll want one who knows and understands bringing products to market; iow, it's a partnership and you need to be sure that the co-packer will be able to support you. (That's a whole nother kettle of fish).

There is a lot to learn and the food regulations are quite the PITA until you know which way to go... (and even then), so if the price is right, a co-packer is a good use of service, but to maximize your returns, setting up your own facility is a good idea.

Assuming you are using no meat products, you will have a relatively easy time setting up your "kitchen" or processing (if there is no cooking involved.

The SBA will certainly be helpful with all of the rules and regulations you need to follow.

I suggest that if you're going the "own processing" route, you take a look at the rules and regulations coming through the pipeline... I think it may be less expensive to set yourself up knowing what you will eventually have to deal with. I'm referring to HACCP certifications, organic certifications, Kosher certifications, etc.

If your marketing plan has organics or Kosher in the future, you might want to consider setting these up from the getgo, it's cheaper to follow a regulation BEFORE you are set in your ways than to adjust your ways to their setups...

Also, with HACCP, it's not on yet, but France needs it in 2009, Canada in 2011, and I think the US has the latest date on the table, but suffice it to say, if in the foreseeable future you will be shipping across state boundaries or out of the country, you will want to do your HACCP while it is inexpensive to do, rather than after you have a larger company already running.

For a nice professional look, you can talk to packaging companies in your area, there are bound to be several. Ask for quotes and discussions with all of them and go with the most helpful, most useful to you and most willing and able to work with you within your budget.

For labeling, I don't know if you have labels separate from your packaging, but consider that your labels, your packages (if they are separate), your business cards, your marketing pieces will all want to be branded. If you haven't given any thought to your "branding" I recommend you do that early on too.. Much cheaper to add a new product to an existing brand than it is to add a brand to a series of existing products.

You can discuss pricing with designers and how they might see your project, or you can do it yourself, but you'll find it easier to market a brand than a product. The best advice I can give you on that is to make your brand "special" and recognizeable for its specialty and brand that product as such...

Here's some very useful links on Branding:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand
http://marketing.about.com/cs/brandmktg/a/whatisbranding.htm
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1073903636
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/brandequity/
http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/branding/

Your brand needs to be about YOU and what you bring to the table... Ergo; in order for your brand to really reflect your product, I recommend writing your Mission/Vision statement first. That way your brand reflects the most important roadmap you'll ever need; your Mission/Vision. Of course, that's a whole nother post... It took us over a month to write our V/M statement, but it is so concise that our brand reflects it and if it doesn't, we rework the brand so that it reflects it.

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

Eat more peppers!

Thank you very much Peppermaster your advice is priceless.
This helped me so much. Keep up the good work.

>Thank you very much Peppermaster your advice is priceless.
>This helped me so much. Keep up the good work.

Well, I hope it's helpful.

When I was starting my business there was a very useful man here who helped me a great deal. He passed away not so long ago, so I hope that I can even possible share just a little of what I learned from him as a legacy.

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

Eat more peppers!

My business is with a leading science/research nutrition company. They have a wonderful, delicious and nutritious snack. It comes prepackaged and sealed in serving sizes, great for your business. If you'd like information about them email me at positivelifechoices@wildblue.net