Whether you’re new to the perishable food business, or a seasoned veteran with a well-established system, avoiding mistakes is essential to your success and your profits. Even if you produce high-quality, delicious food products with a creative and smart marketing plan, your business can still suffer or even fail if you don’t follow the rules of the business.

For an efficient company that will stand the test of time, avoid these three common perishable food business mistakes:

Not Testing Your Concept

Too often, perishable food business entrepreneurs want to grow a big business as soon as they enter the market. Rather than taking slow steps and trying to sell their product on a smaller scale, business owners and managers attempt to make big-business decisions. For example, rather than having friends and family try out products, or selling at a local farmer’s market, new owners reach out to stores and warehouses far too soon. Even established perishable food businesses make this mistake, too, when they open a new line of products or make a new flavor from scratch. To avoid the huge losses of an unsuccessful product or campaign, work up to the big leagues by testing your product and marketing strategy on a small scale first.

Not Thinking About Efficiency

Although it is smart to test products out before attempting to enter bigger markets, having a long-term strategy is also extremely important to success. One common mistake in new perishable food businesses is not thinking about efficient production and delivery methods as part of their plans for growth. Do research before settling on a production and delivery method.

One option that some perishable food businesses overlook is direct store delivery systems. Rather than shipping products to a warehouse for distribution, some niche products and specialty items find huge success by using a direct store delivery software to bring products directly to retailers. One of the benefits of direct store delivery systems is that drivers can restock shelves directly on an as-needed basis. Rather than waiting for retailers to contact warehouses, who then contact you to inform you of a shortage, drivers can make sure your product is always available on the shelves for customers. Skip the middleman and find a production and delivery system that boosts efficiency and sales as early as you can.

Not Knowing All of the Regulations

Finally, one huge mistake new and seasoned perishable food business entrepreneurs make is not keeping up to date with all USDA and FDA food safety and packaging regulations. These laws can be complex and confusing, so it is important to do thorough research. Use the USDA guide to get started, and consider consulting with a professional, so that you don’t lose a good business by forgetting the red tape.

The global food and agricultural industry accounted for 10% of the world’s GDP in 2016. With careful planning and research, any perishable food business can become a booming enterprise in this huge industry. Avoid the rookie mistakes above to keep your hungry customers coming back for more, and contact Harvest Food Solutions today to discover more ways to improve your perishable food business.

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