An informative guide for novices to the specialty food industry

books:


	• From Kitchen to Market: Selling Your Gourmet Food Specialty Stephen Hall Kaplan Business, 2005 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Great book for people serious about starting a business

This book is a goldmine of information about the gourmet food business and how to get your product out there. Many charts, templates and other business resources that are not found in any other book I've read. Loved the "real world" examples.

Fantastic book for food start-ups

This book was recommended in a class at the local community college on starting a food business. There are
excellent examples of various business models and lots of referrals to other helpful web sites. If you have a
specialty food product you're making in your kitchen and you dream of selling it, this book is perfect.

for more information click here

An informative guide for novices to the specialty food industry

Stephen Hall's book is a honest guide for aspiring food manufacturers who are new to the specialty food industry, and most importantly, who have limited funds to sustain a long-term marketing effort. Though he does discuss various important aspects of the industry as a whole, his emphasis is on marketing.

He uses real-world examples of entrepreneurs that have either succeeded or failed in bringing their product(s) to market and in some cases due to being under-capitalised or not being prepared to handle the demand for their products once they had become successful. Make no mistake, Mr. Hall in no way sugarcoats the process. In fact, in the chapter where he discusses start-up costs, he stresses the importance of an independent source of income to successfully start your business, especially for the first 3-5 years. But this a positive rather than a negative point, because it encourages you to be realistic and to prepare for success rather than set yourself up for failure.

His intention is to inform and he does so clearly by using flowcharts and explaining indepth the various aspects of the specialty food market. He covers important issues such as defining the best U.S. territories for your product; researching the markets; developing and positioning your product; government regulations (a list of the relevant agencies for each process of the business is provided); packaging, labeling, pricing, warehousing and shipping your product; principles for marketing success; promoting, publicizing and advertising; finding buyers; arranging deals; finding copackers, and much more.

There is a lot of valuable information to process and I found myself reading the book a second time (and most likely will do so a third time as a refresher). I highly recommend this book as a good foundation and to get you started in the right direction.

for more information click here

Well written, great guidlines but not right for everyone.

This is a good book, but not exactly what I was expecting. As a Small Business Consultant, I was asked to teach a class on marketing your food product for a local food incubator, which is beginning level. This is great if you want to have your mustard in a national chain, your tea or coffee on grocery store shelves, or the like. What I thought it would help with was entry level marketing to get your food into local stores, selling on the internet, and getting into a trade show. It did give guidance to higher levels of the same thing, and was very professionally done, just a bit above what I was expecting. If you already have an established product and do large scale production, this is a great book for you. For beginners, it doesn't really take it right out of the kitchen...its sort of a couple notches past that.

Excellent author and wonderful expertise though. Definitely a keeper for my personal library.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Grab a slice of the $39 billion specialty food pie with this updated, ultimate resource for gourmet food entrepreneurs. The specialty food industry is THE proven vehicle for entry-level food distribution in the United States. Retail sales of specialty foods averaging an annual growth rate of more than 7 percent presents, to some, a great opportunity?to others, a formidable challenge. Your ability to make your mark in the industry, establish your independence, achieve success, and acquire wealth depends on how effectively you prepare, according to Stephen Hall, a long-recognized specialty food marketing professional. In From Kitchen to Market: Selling Your Gourmet Food Specialty, Hall outlines every food marketing opportunity and then supports entrepreneurial action with detailed guidance. Whether you own your own business or you are thinking about starting one, From Kitchen to Market will show you how to: ?Identify a winning product and its most appropriate markets. ?Get your product ready to market. ?Advertise, promote, and sell your product. ?Create your own success niche. ?Professionalize your business. Also included is updated information about the role of the Internet, health and organic food markets, the latest government regulations and technological advances, and contact information for dozens of valuable resources.

for more information click here

hot