If you’re a foodie with dollars signs in your eyes, you need more than a passion for good cooking to break into the lucrative food processing market. A successful food business requires more polished recipes and designer packaging.
In addition to having your paperwork and business plan lined up, you need the right equipment, such as a food-grade oil pump, to run a smooth operation. Naturally, you need to espouse high sanitary standards from food handling to the type of equipment you use during the production process.
Meeting the safety and health department requirements leaves you free to focus on growing the business.
1. Study your target market.
The food sector in New Zealand is rising, hitting the $11 billion mark in 2018. Kiwis alongside the tourists don’t hesitate to splurge in exchange for good foods be it on dining out or takeout. Currently, there more than 17,000 hospitality businesses in the country, with seven new one cropping up every day.
Therefore, getting into the food manufacturing sector presents you with a broad target market that is overrunning with cash. If industry statistics are anything to go by, this high performance is not stopping anytime soon. With a little effort, you can grow your market share and boost your sales.
For the best results, you need deep insights into your target market as that information helps you to shape your products and marketing strategy. Good knowledge of the market lowers the learning curve while increasing your chances of success. It also helps you to identify market gaps that you can step in without enduring stiff competition.
2. Pick a popular product line.
While food is basic needs, you need to shed that mentality if you’re to succeed in the sector. People no longer eat for sustenance — not in the age of the internet, Instagram, and health movement. The contents of the plates serve a myriad of purposes in addition to sating hunger.
A quick search on the internet brings back millions upon millions of images of food and people enjoying their meals. It’s as if there’s an unwritten rule that compels people to share pictures of their meals with others. Not that it’s a bad thing though as you can use it to your advantage.
With a little research, you can unearth the next big thing in the food scene and ride the wave to the top. For instance, you could align yourself with the makers of some of the raging food items such as almond milk ice cream and yogurt, coffee Kombucha, turmeric juice, or sugar-free tomato sauce. These are some of the rising stars that are taking the food scene by storm.
There’s no denying that you’ll encounter stiff competition when getting into the food processing sector. Luckily, there’s enough money to go around in the multibillion-dollar sector that is on a constant upswing.
With a little research, you can hit the ground running and cash in on the popularity of some food times. You only need to ensure your line of products live up to the expectations of your target markets.