How to Start a Canning Company
- 1). Take a certification course in low acid canning to learn HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) techniques and safe canning procedures. These classes are usually offered by university agricultural extensions. In addition to the certification which qualifies you to process and can foods yourself, the information and techniques that you learn will help to protect your customers from food-borne illnesses and will help protect you from expensive and inconvenient lawsuits.
- 2). Contact your city and state revenue departments about obtaining the licenses necessary to own and operate a canning business in your area. Contact your local health department and ask for information about commercial kitchen certification requirements. If you plan to hire employees, register with the federal government to receive an employer identification number and with your state's unemployment insurance and industrial insurance divisions.
- 3). Develop a core group of recipes for your canning company. Choose a focus that will help you to brand your company, such as low-fat salad dressings or products using fresh ingredients from local farms. Feed your prototype recipes to friends, relatives and anyone else willing to offer a thoughtful opinion. Adjust your recipes to accommodate their feedback. Can prototypes and let them sit for a few months to determine whether their flavor, color or texture is compromised over time.
- 4). Create labels for your canning company's products. Use the label format as both a vehicle to convey necessary information such as ingredients, weight and company information, and also as a marketing tool to entice customers to buy your product. Design an attractive label that communicates the focus of your company, for example by using an illustration of a farmhouse for a product that uses farm fresh ingredients.
- 5). Market your canning company's products to wholesalers and retailers. Bring samples, price lists and company information. If you are interested in direct marketing, speak to the directors of local farmers markets about operating a stall at their venues.
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