Entrepreneur Corner - Dairy Free Food Manufacturer

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How Much Can I Make? with Mirav Ozeri

Entrepreneur Corner - Dairy Free Food Manufacturer

Here's some food for thought: have you ever wanted to sell your home cooked creations to a larger market? In this special episode of Entrepreneur Corner, Lisa Protter, CEO and co-founder of Organic Nectars, joins Mirav to talk about her journey developing a small business from her basement to a warehouse production center as a food manufacturer in New York's Hudson Valley. 

For over 20 years, Organic Nectars has been trailblazing in an emerging market for alternative sweeteners and non-dairy, organic treats long before it became trendy. What began as a passion project rooted in home cooking developed into a full-time business with multiple employees and a dedicated production facility. Food manufacturing is a multi-faceted business: importing raw goods, implementing production processes, and getting products into consumer hands by working with retailers and distributers. Organic Nectars doesn't cut any corners–you won't find any co-packers here–every product is made from scratch in-house. But that kind of dedication to excellence requires years of hard work. Tune in to hear more about Lisa's journey and gain valuable insight into the business of food manufacturing. 

Topics

00:39 Introduction
04:16 Starting out
05:02 Scaling up
06:19 The question of funding
07:25 A changing industry: food distribution
08:52 Getting onto shelves
09:36 It's a volume game
09:54 Developing a flagship line of products
12:39 Trailblazing in a developing market
14:14 Day in the life
16:13 How do you stay competitive?
19:15 Profitability
19:32 What do you wish you had known?
20:39 Advice for others starting out
22:21 Biggest misconceptions about food manufacturing
24:01 Most rewarding part of the business
24:31 What's your end goal?

Resources

FDA - How to Start a Food Business

Cornell Food Venture Center

How to Start a Food Business from Home

Visit howmuchcanimake.info

Music credit: Kate Pierson & Monica Nation