PRAISE FOR
Cooking Up a Business
This book isnt just for anyone who is thinking about starting a food business; its for anyone who is thinking about starting a business, period. These compelling profiles show that its truly possible to make dreams a reality with hard work and the lessons gleaned from these entrepreneurs. My biggest takeaway? You get a lot of help and support from unlikely sources, including these intrepid souls who were willing to share their stories so that you can learn from their experiences.
Michelle Shih, lifestyle director at O, the Oprah Magazine
From flavored nut butters in Colorado to bargain wine in California, Rachel Hofstetter provides insight into an inspiring diversity of food businesses. Hofstetters flair for storytelling illuminates these entrepreneurs passion, dedication, and great success. Cooking Up a Business is a go-to for foodies with a taste for starting their own company, and a great reference for readers wondering how their favorite products got to the grocery store shelves.
Leah Douglas, Serious Eats
From local artisans to food tour enterprises, this terrific book shows a wide range of entrepreneurs pursuing their passions in foodand actually making a living! Its a valuable, instructive, and encouraging set of stories and practical advicesmart reading for anyone thinking of launching their own food endeavor.
Faith Durand, executive editor of The Kitchn
The specialty food industry is booming. Thousands of fledgling entrepreneurs want to bring their treasured recipes to market but are unaware of the obstacles they will encounter. This insiders look at successful businesses will instruct and inspire, so more people can live their dreams.
Ron Tanner, vice president of communications and education at the
Specialty Food Association
A PERIGEE BOOK
Published by the Penguin Group
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Copyright 2013 by Rachel Mount Hofstetter
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hofstetter, Rachel.
Cooking up a business : lessons from food lovers who turned their passion into a careerand
how you can, too / Rachel Hofstetter. First edition.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-399-16231-2
ISBN 978-1-101-59691-3 (eBook)
1. CookingVocational guidance. 2. Food tradeVocational guidance. 3. New products. 4. New business enterprises. I. Title.
TX652.4.H64 2013
641.30023dc23 2013025940
First edition: December 2013
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses,
and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does
not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Version_1
To Kathleen, Steve, Tammy, and Lornefor giving me roots and wings.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
So, You Want to Sell Your Famous Spaghetti Sauce?
You might call me a food entrepreneur groupie. At first it was for work: my job as a food editor at places like O, the Oprah Magazine and Readers Digest took me to food trade shows, launch parties, and lots of meet-and-greets where I chatted with food entrepreneurs about their products. The chocolates, jams, cheeses, and crackers were delicious, but just as memorable were the founders stories. When I went home at night, I wasnt thinking about their products per se, but the aha moments, challenges overcome, and sheer drive that had led each one from his or her home kitchen to bountiful displays on grocery store shelves.
It became one of my favorite parts of the job: A new food entrepreneur was in town next Tuesday. Did I want to meet? Of course! Or Id give a friend a fantastic cheese to try and then spend twenty minutes waxing poetic about the story of the woman from Alabama who left her corporate job to raise goats and make fresh chvre.
Then I found myself talking about the lessons Id picked up to new and want-to-be entrepreneurs. It started small. My aunt had a special holiday herring dish and was thinking of selling it at her local market. How should she go about it? Advice came tumbling outnot from my own experience, but an amalgamation of the wisdom of the hundreds of food founders Id worked with over the years. Then Id be chatting with another food entrepreneur and hed mention a challenge he was facing. Well, this other company had experienced something similar and overcome it by doing x, y, and z, maybe he could, too?
And thus this book was born. I wanted to focus on what its like to start and grow a successful food business now, so I limited my net to entrepreneurs who had created their business in the past ten years or so. Pioneering food companies came out of the 1980s and 1990s, but what about those who came of age in an era of social media, Whole Foods, artisanal products, food trucks, blogs, and gluten-free? Its their stories that teach you how to succeed today.
I also wanted my dream list of food entrepreneurs to have founded their company and still be in control today; they had to be of all ages, genders, and life experiences; and I wanted to include businesses from all over the United States, from Columbus, Ohio, and Boulder, Colorado, to longtime foodie hotspots like San Francisco. These are the people who are just like you.
I think youll agree that the final groupwho will become your friends and mentors throughout these pagesare smart, savvy, and incredibly inspirational. Best of all, theyre great teachers. For an entire year I conducted exclusive interviews with each entrepreneur, following along on his or her intrepid tales as we dove into both wins and mistakes. Often, Id be swept away by the narrative, only to realize at the end that Id learned moreintuitivelyin one session than in any of the business lectures Id taken in college.
I wanted their experiences to offer applicable, real-world guidance to the entrepreneur who is dreaming about the next big thing. Ten years ago, we couldnt have guessed that gluten-free crackers, salty savory chocolates, and popped potato chips would be runaway hits. And while I have no idea what yet-to-be-invented food products will be flying off shelves ten years from now, I do know that the down-to-earth, real-life lessons in this book will help the next generation of food entrepreneurs