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The pandemic has forced chefs and entrepreneurs to search for alternative streams of income more urgently than ever before. For some, retail sales have been a surprise boon. Turning to mass production has streamlined food service operations and even eclipsed traditional chef roles.
After I closed my restaurant, Poi Dog, I found myself heading down the CPG (consumer packaged goods) path, prompted by friends in retail distribution. In September 2020, I knew nothing about preservation, production, or supply chains.
One year later, I have a fledgling line of sauces including Hawaiian Chili Peppah Water, Maui Lavender Ponzu and Guava Katsu. They’re carried in specialty grocers around the country, online and are on the menu at two restaurants. For me, they are vehicles to continue the mission of Poi Dog, to honestly represent the flavours of my Hawaii roots.
Rebecca Foxman.
Rebecca Foxman, the owner/operator of Fox and Sons, launched her gluten-free carnival mixes in December 2020. “These are the same mixes that are well loved by our customers. We realised we had great proprietary recipes and we wanted to capitalise on that.”
Capitalising meant giving Foxman’s customers the ability to replicate her funnel cake and corn dogs at home. “The pandemic was good for our sales because it forced more customers to cook and eat at home.”
Melissa Tavss, the founder and CEO of Tipsy Scoop, a line of alcohol-infused ice creams, reports skyrocketing retail sales at the onset of the pandemic. “People were sending our ice cream as gifts – [as] they couldn’t celebrate their birthdays with them in person.”
Yami Correa, chef and co-owner of The SisterYard, launched her Coconut Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate in July 2020. “[The pandemic] forced us to close the doors of [our] cooking classes. [We] started selling our coffee locally in Miami. The pre-order batch sold out that same day.” While Yami still produces in-house, her product is carried in coffee shops in Miami and NYC and shipped around the US.
Outsourcing production has assisted some establishments in the face of consistency and labour issues. "We have a product we used to make by hand now made by a nearby facility,” says Foxman. “This has made the product extremely consistent and has brought our own costs down since we use so much at our restaurant. We take in 2000 pounds of each SKU every few months, and it’s decreased our labour and simplified ordering since we no longer have to stock those ingredients in house. Having our mixes come to us like this has minimised errors and improved quality in our restaurant.”
Tipsy Scoop ice cream (image credit: Siracusa Studios).
For me, it was initially difficult to comprehend my recipes in vast quantities. Developing a manufacturing formula is significantly different than crafting a dish for immediate consumption. While thinking of ingredients in gram weights may be nothing new to chefs, one also must consider ingredients in terms of percentages and often, processing them with more regulations than in a restaurant kitchen.
Alison Cayne, CEO of Haven’s Kitchen - a fresh sauce company that prior to the pandemic was a cooking school - describes some of the differences of cooking for retail versus cooking in a restaurant. “There are things you can’t use in a retail product. For example, fresh lemongrass. The FDA forbids it. And in production we use a pouch-filling machine so have to be careful about the size of oregano and parsley or else they can get stuck.”
Caroline Schiff, executive chef at Slow Up and executive pastry chef at Gage & Tollner, has this advice for when considering a formula: “Think about production and supply chain, and make it as simple as you can. Once you’ve developed something great, expect to have to rework it completely once you move to a manufacturer. Everything changes when you scale up and grow.” Straddling two different chef roles, Schiff still finds a lot of similarities in them. “I’m thinking about textures, interesting and delicious flavour profiles and visual appeal in both respects.”
Before diving into retail, I enlisted the help of the Drexel Food Lab to understand the processes of mass production. Since I no longer have my own restaurant, making the sauces in-house was impossible, and I now work with two co-packers who manufacture my sauces, 40 gallons at a time.
Jonathan Deutsch, a professor of food and hospitality management and director of the Drexel Food Lab, confirms this was the right decision: “Engage a food scientist or research chef early. We often find ourselves called in to undo a problem.” Though the Drexel Food Lab doesn’t assist with manufacturing products, Deutsch acts as an advisor. “Our sweet spot in the process is around the time the entrepreneurs have identified a general opportunity but don’t know exactly what the product will look, feel, and taste like.”
But Deutsch warns entrepreneurs who fall in love with their products. “CPG is all about compromise. It’s not that CPG companies can’t produce something like the world’s great restaurant chefs – it’s that to have something stable and safe on a shelf, compliant with regulations, with a consistent supply chain, means you have trade-offs. People in love with their products don’t compromise well.”
When seeking a co-manufacturer, Tavss insists: “Do your homework. “You are trusting them to make your product for you… you need to make sure it tastes right and is produced safely.”
Cayne emphasises the importance of doing your market research. “You might have a great pretzel but if you don’t understand the dynamics of the salty snack category, then you’ll be in for a surprise when you find how crowded the category is. Go to grocery stores and go online. A product exists in an ecosystem. Think about what’s on the shelves, who’s the consumer, what sizes are consumers used to getting. If you’re looking to scale, these are all the things you need to take into account.”
Sarah Nathan, the owner of Bloom CPG Consulting, elaborates: “The biggest hurdle is grabbing a shopper’s attention amongst a sea of options. It’s all about the Four P’s: Product, Placement, Price and Promotion.” These involve “understanding the space, branding that will stand out on a shelf, having a competitive price point, and having the funds to promote strategically.”
“Think about margins,” Cayne adds. “It’s something that restaurant people are good at because we’re used to operating with bad ones... I don’t think people realise how many chunks get taken out along the way. Think about labour, even if you’re making it yourself right now. Distribution, even if you’re sending it out yourself right now. As you add layers, these will eat into your profit.”
Consultants like Nathan and Liz Thompson, of Liz Thompson Marketing, can assist with this line of thinking and carve out goals for retail entrepreneurs, whether modest or involve becoming a national brand on thousands of grocery shelves. Like Deutsch, they aim to help at any stage of the process, but emphasise engaging professionals early on.
Each of these experts stress the importance of funding. Thompson says: “I jump in when they are ready and explain that introducing a new product, no matter on how small a scale they start, will still cost several thousand dollars.”
Failure of products is frequently tied to underfunding, the absence of a business plan and lack of understanding the variables beyond production runs: trademarking, promotion, distribution are but a few.
While Thompson declares: “Launching a new product is not for the faint-hearted. It is possible to put together a solid plan with a small budget and do things slowly, but you need a good plan. Never jump into trying to launch a new product. And have a good understanding of where you want to start.”
