Simple Small Business Ideas for Food Lovers

Simple Small Business Ideas for Food Lovers

Love food and think that a career in the food industry would be perfect for you?  Great!  Here are Simple Small Business Ideas for Food Lovers!

Bartending Service

If you are over 18 and have a knack for mixing drinks – why not offer your services as a bartender for catering events and private parties. Bartending usually including coming up with an agreed ‘drinks menu’ – ensuring that you have all the alcohol required (pre-ordering) – having ice and garnishes all cut up ready and equipment clean and ready to go.  You will be expected to be dressed impecable and have good people skills.

Legalities:

Providing you are over 18 and are not selling alcohol or providing alcohol to minors, there are no permits required for bartending.

What you can expect to make?

A good bartender can expect to make up to $500 for a whole evening of mixing.

Bespoke Bread Baker

If you love making bread at home, and have access to a commercial kitchen, why not make your famous sourdough and sell your loaves to local cafes, delis and specialty food stores?  If you can make a really lovely gluten free bread or something really bespoke, you can charge more for your product.

Legalities:

All bread making will need to be done in a commercial kitchen.  Check with your local Council for any permits required for your local area.

What you can expect to make?

Price would be on a ‘per loaf’ basis, and price would also depend on the type of bread etc.  But a minimum could be as much as $5 per loaf. If you have local markets nearby this could be very lucrative!

Bone Broth Supplier

Bone broth is still very much in vogue.  Not only is it totally delicious, it does take a really long time to make a great one.  So if you have a wicked recipe, why not look at ways to make your bone broth commercially.  When packaged correctly you can mail your bone broth all over the world – you can offer loads of different flavours (beef broth, chicken broth, Asian broth etc).

Legalities:

Check with your local Council for any specific permits you might need for producing the broth (you will need access to a commercial kitchen) and labelling requirements for your packaging.

What you can expect to make?

It would be on a ‘per item’ basis but you could expect to charge up to $10 per 500ml.

Cake Decorator

A good cake decorator is always in demand!  With loads of Youtube and Facebook tutorials around – it is easy for Mum’s wanting some extra cash to learn the skills required to make a beautiful birthday cake to sell for a profit. You can also decorate cupcakes for birthday parties, do anniversary cakes, wedding cakes – or just cakes for catering!

Legalities:

Ensure that the food is made in a commercial kitchen and check with your local Council about any permits you might need in your area.

What you can expect to make?

A perfectly decorated birthday cake can go for as much as $300 however a fairly basic cake you would be looking at the $80 mark.  The level of skill will increase the cost of the cake.

Cake Decorating Classes

Another great way of making money is to teach cake decorating.  You can either hold classes in a commercial kitchen or you can even do lessons online and sell online courses all around the world.  Cake Decorating is always a skill with much interest for Mums.

Some Cake Decorating Niches:

• Naughty Cakes
• Wedding Cakes
• Kids Party Cakes
• Naked Cakes

What you can expect to make?

Classes in person you can charge from $100 for a two hour class per person.  Online classes you can charge significantly less – but can offer the course to a lot more people.

Cake or Pie Making

If cake decorating isn’t your jam, but you can make a really great tasty cake that people talk about – you can make your cakes and sell them to cafe’s and restaurants.  To get work, I recommend you make a range of flavours and take samples around to all the local fooderies in your area and have the owner have a real life taste test! Raw Cheesecakes and Slices are very popular and on-trend at the moment.

What you can expect to make?

You can charge as much as $100 per cake depending on the size and ingredients!

Freshly Pureed Baby Food

Mum’s are busier than ever right now, so if your baby absolutely loves the range of fresh purees and baby food you make, why not look at making it for others!

What you can expect to make?

Just selling to friends and family will cover your costs, but you never know, you could end up selling it on a commercial basis to supermarkets for mega-dollars!

Cheese Platter Curator

There are so many beautiful gourmet cheeses around now – and even dairy free cheeses have become very popular.  Why not look at putting together platters for sale?  Not only that, you can do a cheese subscription box or provide little plates of various cheeses at functions as nibbles.

What you can expect to make?

A gourmet cheese platter can start at $50.

Coffee Stall

Everyone loves coffee – and if you can make it mobile and attend markets and weddings and other functions – you can really make a packet – not just out of coffee sales, but bespoke cakes and savoury snacks.

There is a trend now to have tiny caravans that you can tow around – sure – that is a bit of an expensive start up – but look how adorable they are!

Picnic Basket Business

Put together lunches on the run by running a Picnic Basket business.  Whether you are packing a picnic basket for a romantic date, or for a day out on the greens – you can pack local fresh produce that will be enjoyed out in nature.

Think of an easy menu that can be put into a basket and transported easily – plus there are so many delicious picnic friendly foods to think about that will be lip-smackingly good!

What to Charge for Picnic Baskets?

What to charge will really depend on the contents.  Taking your time and the cost of food into consideration, you should at least double the cost.  Invest in some low-cost picnic baskets (and of course ask the to be returned after they are finished).

These would be great for a movie night!

Cupcake Maker

Like a cake maker, cupcakes are universally popular – and because they are far more portable than a full size cake, they are great to sell at markets or carnivals.

See the Cake Maker section for more details

Fairy Floss Stall

Make delicious fresh fairy floss at school fete’s, local markets and carnivals with a Fairy Floss Stall.  A relatively inexpensive Fairy Floss Machine (below) and a few lots of fairy floss sugars and sticks is pretty much all you need!

Where Do You Buy a Fairy Floss Machine?

You can pickup commercial style Fairy Floss Machines for under $300.  We love this one from Amazon Australia – it’s super cute but simple at the same time.

Fitness Food Preparation

Super fit people are very particular about what they put in their mouth.  Most take a lot of time and effort to put together food that is high in protein and low in carbs and meet all of their dietry requirements, especially if they are lifting weights.  If you are interested in nutrients and measuring macros, perhaps starting a fitness food preparation business would be an idea.  Put together either meal plans or fully prepared meals that you can deliver straight to your customers.

If you have a background as a Dietician or have access to one that can look over your meal plans, it would be highly helpful.

What you can expect to make:

You can charge upwards of $10 per meal

Flavoured Olive Oil Maker

Just about all home cooks use olive oil – and only now are there a small variety of flavoured olive oils – but what about a bespoke range of flavoured oils?  Making flavoured olive oil is easy too – it’s just a matter of purchasing high grade olive oil, infusing it with flavour and letting time do its thing.  Then you need to think about bottling and labelling.

Sell your flavoured olive oils at markets, online or start your own party plan business.

Flavoured Salts

Similar to the olive oil business above, you can purchase fancy salts such as himalayan pink salt and infuse it with different flavours.

Other Nifty Small Business Ideas in the Food Arena include:

• Food Delivery Service

• Salad Vending Machine

• Healthy Snack Vending Machine

• Bottled Marinades and Sauces

• Food Truck

• Keto Menu Planner

• Gourmet Popcorn

• Gourmet Confectionary

• Herb Grower

• Ice Cream Shop

• Sell Home Grown Vegetables at a Local Market

• Meal Planner

• Micro Brewery

• Nutrition Consultant

• Online Cooking Classes

• Party Food Caterer

• Flavoured Vinegars

• Salads to Go

• Coffee Delivery Service

• Healthy Snack Subscription Box

• Personal Cook

• Make Hot Breakfasts at a Local Market Stall

• Coffee Bean Subscription Box

• Sell Your Own Honey

• Start a Cooking Youtube Channel

• Pasta Maker

• Food Allergy Personal Shopper

• Gourmet Sandwich Maker

• Snack Subscription Box

• Smoothie Bar

• Become a Food Blogger

• Start a Community Garden

• Gluten Free Food Shop

• Cake Decorating Equipment Supplier

• Personalised Candy Maker

• Start a Barbecue Catering Business

• Pet Food Maker

• Online Organic Food Supermarket

• Gourmet Doughnut Maker

• Spice Powder Business

• School Lunch Preparation

• Tea Salon

• Mobile Pizza Oven

• Frozen Yogurt Shop

• Bespoke Food Platters

• Hot Breakfast Deliveries

• Organic Food Boxes

• Wine Tasting Evening

• Wine Subscription Business

• Wedding Dessert Business

• Weekly Fruit and Vegetable Box Delivery

• Romantic Dinner Planner

• Cheesecake Maker

• Vegan Chocolate Maker

• Make Gourmet Muesli and Granola

• Raw Dessert Maker

• Raw Bliss Ball Maker

• High Tea Baskets

• Barbecue Seasoning Mixes

• At Home Smoking Kits

• Sell various dehydrated fruits and vegatables

• Make Gourmet Food and Wine Hampers

• Put Together a Cookbook for Sale

• Pre-made Vegetarian Meal Supplier

• Flavoured Marinated Feta Cheese

• Bespoke Cake Mixes

• Frozen Gourmet Pizzas

Got any other ideas on Small Business Ideas in the Food Business –

Let us know and we’ll get it added to the list.