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The Process of Local Commercial Food Production
Tifft, Dylan Nicholson, Joan
Tifft, Dylan
Nicholson, Joan
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2016
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Abstract
In 2013, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo created
the Pride of New York pledge to promote the growth,
production, and consumption of local foods. This initiative
has inspired food entrepreneurs to startup small businesses
founded on the production of processed foods from
personal recipes. The process of creating a food product for
retail sale from recipe to store shelf is complex. Multiple
steps are required that include finding a USDA approved
processing facility that has the capacity to meet the
demands of production.
This project was based on the development of a salsa
recipe that would meet the standards for retail sale. The
multiple-step process started with an idea, in this case a
homemade product often given as a gift to family members.
Product development took place at Nelson Farms
production kitchen. The steps to market included
determining a target audience’s need or demand for a
product of this type, food recipe development, and
refinement to determine startup and value added costs and
required resources, and food procurement while adhering
to FDA and USDA regulations. The production process also
entailed marketing of the developed product and assessing
customer acceptability to predict the success of future
product sales and the sustainability of the business.
The salsa product went retail and after three months on
the shelf, the consumer acceptability has been measured by
product sales and surveys of consumers. The numerical
results showed consumer acceptance of the product
supported by the fact that the product is going into a
second production. Further sales records and consumer
feedback will be monitored and evaluated in order to
determine the long-term sustainability of the product.
Food entrepreneurs who want to become part of the
local food movement, whose business plan is to produce a
product to be sold retail must adhere to a rigorous process
that ultimately should lead to the sustainability of their
business.