David Crabill
@david
active 29 minutes agoForum Replies Created
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No — you will need to use a commercial kitchen to start your business. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial
First of all, keep in mind that Kentucky currently only allows farmers to sell items they make at home. If you are a farmer, I’m not sure if apple cider vinegar would be allowed, but you should call your ag dept to check.
If you’re not a farmer, you will need to use a commercial kitchen to produce your vinegar. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial
Over the past few years, I’ve seen many entrepreneurs try to establish an online marketplace for local foods — virtually all of them with limited or no success, myself included. So just by that fact alone, it’s clear that there are some serious barriers to entry in this space. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what those barriers are.
I would say that the biggest mistake we made was building the marketplace before identifying that we had users. Everyone said they would like/use the marketplace, but nobody ultimately did. Proving that this is something that people need (not just want) enough that they will change their buying tactics is the hardest part. We found that getting buyers without many sellers was much easier than getting sellers without many buyers. Getting sellers is the key — do that part before spending time on your product. I’d say 100 committed sellers is a good starting point before working on the marketplace. You might think that an existing marketplace would be helpful for getting sellers, but I haven’t found any data to backup that assumption.
Monica, I’m on vacation right now, but I’ll respond to your PM soon.
If you add the butter and then thoroughly bake the croutons, that would definitely be allowed. If you are adding the butter after baking, it would still likely be allowed, but you should check with the ag dept.
CO has said that anything that’s not in the list is not allowed. Therefore, I assume that you would need to use a commercial kitchen to produce popcorn. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial
In most states, you don’t need to have a permit from the ag dept to sell uncut produce. However, zoning laws prevent most neighborhoods from being used for business purposes. Therefore, it’s unlikely that you will be able to sell from your front yard, but you should check with the dept that manages zoning in your area.
It would probably be allowed under the cottage food law, but really, if your health inspector is okay with it with fewer requirements, then I’d say you’re good to go. They are the ones that regulate the laws, and their word about what’s allowed is final.
Jenn, usually the only way to find info about this is to call the govt dept directly.
Jay, I’m pretty sure that your equipment doesn’t need to follow commercial standards. You should call the ag dept to make sure.
I don’t think it’s different for CFOs. If you also use your kitchen for personal use, it can’t be deducted. I’m pretty sure about that, but not 100% sure. To learn more, you need to contact whatever tax authority there is in your area — the depts that govern this are different for each state, so I don’t know what yours is called.
