Question about food production and selling in grocery stores

[MBony]

Lets say I have an edible product that I want to sell in grocery stores. Does it have to be certified by the FDA or some other government or 3rd party for me to sell in the grocery store? Does the same apply for selling at a farmer's market? If not, why?

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: MBony
Lets say I have an edible product that I want to sell in grocery stores. Does it have to be certified by the FDA or some other government or 3rd party for me to sell in the grocery store? Does the same apply for selling at a farmer's market? If not, why?

Yes to your first question MBony other than that I don't know

 

[Gunslinger08]

I don't think all consumables have to be approved by the FDA.

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
I don't think all consumables have to be approved by the FDA.

I agree, but I'm sure some gov't entity has to get their cut before an edible product is sold in grocery stores no? I'm thinking that w/ out some sort of cert. the individual might be liable in a worse case scenario.

 

[spidey07]

No, not at all. The agreement is between the producer and the seller.

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: spidey07
No, not at all. The agreement is between the producer and the seller.

And you have to meet local Health Department standards and in some cases you require a license from the municipality.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: spidey07
No, not at all. The agreement is between the producer and the seller.

And you have to meet local Health Department standards and in some cases you require a license from the municipality.

Without getting too P&N I sell from my curb and provide to local farmers markets. I understand where you're coming from and the local ordinances in place...I just would hate to live in such a place.

 

[nageov3t]

if all the involved ingredients are approved, I can't see why you'd have a problem.

if you're genetically modifying your own strains of fruit and vegetables, that might be something different.

in either case, I wouldn't bother with chain grocery stores; that kinda purchasing stuff is probably made on the corporate level.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: loki8481
if all the involved ingredients are approved, I can't see why you'd have a problem.

if you're genetically modifying your own strains of fruit and vegetables, that might be something different.

in either case, I wouldn't bother with chain grocery stores; that kinda purchasing stuff is probably made on the corporate level.

Are you kidding me? What do you grow and sell?

The strains we have are though 100+ years of selective breeding. At the "corporate level" (waves scary evil corporationy flag) they want the best quality at the lowest transportation cost.

Do you have any idea the purchasing power of "evil corporationy corporations"? What do you produce? Why do you think your local grocery store buys stuff and pays shipping? Do you think they shun local producers just to be all "corporationy?"

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: loki8481
if all the involved ingredients are approved, I can't see why you'd have a problem.

if you're genetically modifying your own strains of fruit and vegetables, that might be something different.

in either case, I wouldn't bother with chain grocery stores; that kinda purchasing stuff is probably made on the corporate level.

Are you kidding me? What do you grow and sell?

The strains we have are though 100+ years of selective breeding. At the "corporate level" (waves scary evil corporationy flag) they want the best quality at the lowest transportation cost.

Do you have any idea the purchasing power of "evil corporationy corporations"? What do you produce? Why do you think your local grocery store buys stuff and pays shipping? Do you think they shun local producers just to be all "corporationy?"

never worked in a grocery store. I just assumed that the chains were run Walmart-y, wherein the people in corporate decide on which brands, which distributors, etc and the most say that a local store manager has is how much of which items, similar to how a McD's couldn't get fresh local produce/meat even if it wanted to.

didn't mean to imply that I think corporations are evil, I just wouldn't think that a store manager of a chain store would have that kind of purchasing power.

 

[KMFJD]

Pain in the ass to get into the big grocery chains, almost need to bribe them,a friend of mine is trying to sell his produce to one of the major grocery chains in Ontario, in order to do this he needs to pass some Ontario food/safety regulations, this means a record of everything that was done on the farm, from spraying to whyo picks what vegetable. The kicker to this is , if he doesn't follow tehse regulations, guess where the grocery store buys the veggies from? from an unregulated farm somewhere in Mexico or California...

 

[techs]

In my town you don't need any type of license to sell your produce.
If you want to sell on the street you need a vendors license.
To sell to supermarkets you just need to follow Department of Agriculture rules, for example you can't sell produce with certain pesticides unless you wash them, etc. And for certain foods you must process them in a certain way, like for peanut butter so you don't get aflatoxin in it.

To sell produce to supermarkets is much easier than any other product. Many supermarkets have purchase arrangements with local suppliers for in season produce like corn.
If you want to get a product on the supermarket shelf, good luck. The big manufactures legally can't influence the supermarkets, but they do, to keep competitiors off the shelves.

 

[MBony]

Originally posted by: loki8481
if all the involved ingredients are approved, I can't see why you'd have a problem.

if you're genetically modifying your own strains of fruit and vegetables, that might be something different.

in either case, I wouldn't bother with chain grocery stores; that kinda purchasing stuff is probably made on the corporate level.

What I'd like to sell is a jelly that I produce and jar. All ingredients are normally grown (no pesticides).

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: MBony

Originally posted by: loki8481
if all the involved ingredients are approved, I can't see why you'd have a problem.

if you're genetically modifying your own strains of fruit and vegetables, that might be something different.

in either case, I wouldn't bother with chain grocery stores; that kinda purchasing stuff is probably made on the corporate level.

What I'd like to sell is a jelly that I produce and jar. All ingredients are normally grown (no pesticides).

If you make high quality stuff there's a big online demand for quality jams and jellies.
Also, some local tourist attractions like to carry locally made stuff.
In my supermarket you can get some locally made maple syrup. There are few other items locally made, apparently the Price Chopper supermarket has decided to offer a few locally produced items in each store.
So, perhaps your supermarket has a similiar policy? Be aware that supermarkets will generally require you to show some proof as to the "wholesomeness" of your product. There are large companies that supposedly check out manufacturers and approve them (at your cost) and the supermarkets require these to protect against lawsuits to show they made some attempt to make sure your food was O.K.

 

[Pantoot]

Originally posted by: KMFJD
Pain in the ass to get into the big grocery chains, almost need to bribe them

Around these parts they are called a slotting fee, not a bribe. That shelf space isn't free.