Comments on: Fancy Food Summer ‘06

By: Kelli Bernard

Kelli Bernard — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 17:53:55 +0000

Hi KB — My apologies for not responding to your questions sooner. They are all big issues I have faced in trying to get sales going. No, I did not need any special licenses to sell across state lines. As for product labeling, as a small company you are exempt from much of the rules. There are companies that do food nutrition labeling for you, which may be valuable, but $800 sounds like too much. I have actually found http://www.nutritiondata.com will give you a good sense of what the nutrition facts in your product are. You can contact universities and companies to double check your findings and get a more detailed analysis. Some helpful links from the FDA are:

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/flg-1.html

and

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/sbel.html

As for shelf-life testing, I do not recommend you use a company to evaluate this. They simply do what you can do yourself - package your product as it will be sold, and keep it in the conditions (same temp/light, etc.) of the store shelf. Take out some of the product every week and try it. Once it is no longer up to your satisfaction, it has exceeded its shelf life. There are scientific tests that companies can perform to determine some of this, but I believe the ultimate shelf life test is the quality of the taste, and that is something subjective (that you are the best judge of!) Feel free to e-mail me with any other questions. Good luck!

By: Kelli Bernard

Kelli Bernard — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 17:43:00 +0000

Working class? I am working class. I work for my living. Everyone who helped me at the booth is “working class”. We all worked. We all carried. I just wanted to do things (including set up and break down) the best way possible and not be forced to use someone’s labor in particular. I am in favor of the freedom to choose. This is not about union bashing. This post was just about how we got our work done, and the issues we faced in doing so. No trust funds here, but even if I did, the effort involved in the show would have been the same.

Also, if you are referencing some of the comments here they were all made in good humor. They actually implied union workers work very hard, so no need for the negativity. We were all just trying to get some sweets out to the world here.

By: USA

USA — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 17:17:27 +0000

Whats up with all sly-like union bashing? Too tired to
picket, eh? I’m sure it was tough to have to talk to those dirty working classs men. Read up on some labor
history, you sound like foolish trust funded yuppies.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 21:45:39 +0000

Is that crazy customer Ray scaring off your other Amai guests? I’ll set him straight!The hardest part is, he doesn’t even really work for Amai that’s what makes this so difficult!

By: Gabriella

Gabriella — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 07:07:21 +0000

CONGRATULATIONS!!! to anyone who has never been to the Fancy Food Show - they MUST Go. It is AMAZING. I am so impressed by how well you did. Your booth looks beautiful. I have worked many a trade show in my life but never that one and they are exhausting and difficult and very expensive. I have only bought at the FF and it is a big treat to just come as a buyer and not as a sellar. It is such a phenomenally big show. To walk it takes days and days.

By: gerald

gerald — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 16:07:32 +0000

Bravo Kelli! Your booth at the Fancy Food show was really great and it was a pleasure meeting you albeit for just a brief moment! Thanks for all the details, it’s been really interesting reading about all the ups and downs of getting into the fancy food business from your perspective and I can’t wait to hear more! Good luck with all your new sales!

By: Ray

Ray — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 02:23:48 +0000

For the first and only time of my life I felt like a true union guy. As chief table mover and van driver for Amai, I can tell everbody reading that I never worked so hard in my life. I would have gone on strike, but I was to tired to picket. In fact, come to think of it, my only compensation was all the cookies and brownies I could eat. I guess fatherhood is its own reward. Kelli, you did a great job and I am so very proud of you. Now, go west young lady, go west!!

By: Malini

Malini — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 04:28:55 +0000

Kudos to you Kelli. Hope all those leads convert into profitable business deals.

Wow, this post gave us an idea about the depth of your operation.

Congrats on entering SF. It is a really eclectic market.

Are you planning to stick to only markets and stores or even tie up with restaurants?

By: KB

KB — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:36:08 +0000

Kelli,
That was great. And because I’m a greedy blog reader, I must ask for more…
Did you have to do any special type of licensing to ship/sell your goods across interstate lines?

I’ve been researching the cost of starting up a food business (ie wholesale goods) and I am flabbergasted. Not sure what to ignore and what to pay attention to. Does one have to go through the FDA to do their food nutrional labeling or pay $800 per product for these folks to do it:
http://www.foodlabels.com/services.htm

I hope to see you out at the San Francisco show. And I’m still confounded on packaging….

By: Kelli

Kelli — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 16:55:03 +0000

Thanks Shuna. I know it was a long post, but I wanted to get the details of what it was really like out. Thanks for reading and making me feel like I’m not crazy for going through this all!