From Kitchen to Market, 3E

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Guide For Speciality Food Startups
Review: After reading dozens of obtuse marketing studies on the speciality food business, I came across this book. What a delight! All the basic information an entrepenuer needs in one place. The author generously shares practical, authorative advice and guidance through very clear writing and diagrams. It's to-the-point and easy-to-read. The book is also well-organized, has a nice clean layout, and has great resource listings in back of book. Too good to be true? So far, it's been very helpful to me! Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Absolute must for aspiring food wholesalers!
Review: Having owned a specialty food store, and having developed a unique food product that distributors were interested in marketing through convenience and other specialty food stores (including McDonald's Express) I can attest to the accuracy of most of this book.

If you are already producing a great tasting product in a restaurant or Deli and making a living, you probably are wise to concentrate on expanding your retail business. If, however, you are tiring of the daily grind of running a small retail business, but wish to concentrate on producing your product rather than serving it to the public, then you probably have considered wholesaling.

Your wholesaling options are numerous. For marketing through supermarkets I advise you to thoroughly read Packaged Facts book, How To Get Your Product Into Supermarkets.

First, though, you should try marketing through more specialized channels. Health Food Stores, C-stores and nearby deli's and local grocery stores. In such cases you will absolutely need this book and will find it saves you serious bucks and a lot of questions posed to distributors, health officials and your suppliers. I know, because I spent months researching the options and not finding half the information that this book so succinctly provides.

Note: I had so little success finding the information that I chose to team up with a businessman and I became vice president of Billy Bob's Pot Pies in Canby, Oregon. The ill-fated franchise attempt resulted in me returning to work in the Middle East so I could save enough bucks to start producing my meat pies for specialty markets....

Rating:
Summary: Practical and Strategic
Review: I use From Kitchen to Market as the text for the weekend class that I teach through University of California Davis Extension, Getting Started in the Specialty Food Business. Hall's book is excellent; it is practical, not obtuse. He gets to the nitty-gritty of how to develop and launch a product. He also emphasizes the need to be market-oriented. You won't be guaranteed success just because you make a great tasting product; Hall discusses how you need to package,market and distribute your product effectively.

Rating:
Summary: Practical and Strategic
Review: I use From Kitchen to Market as the text for the weekend class that I teach through University of California Davis Extension, Getting Started in the Specialty Food Business. Hall's book is excellent; it is practical, not obtuse. He gets to the nitty-gritty of how to develop and launch a product. He also emphasizes the need to be market-oriented. You won't be guaranteed success just because you make a great tasting product; Hall discusses how you need to package,market and distribute your product effectively.

Rating:
Summary: Ye-HA!!!! Thanks for all this information in one place!!!!
Review: This book covers every entree into the business from expanding an existing food manufacturing business into retail packaging, to starting a "sideline" business with your "famous" honey and pecan mustard.

Rating:
Summary: Tutor In Print for the Aspiring Gourmet Food Marketer
Review: This is well done, by one who has spent the time and provided his knowledge to prospective entrees into this market.

The material is up-to-date, with great stuff on Web Page Development, etc. I found his advice on channel management, i.e. where to sell, on finding distributors to be very useful.

All pertinent areas are covered, packaging to promotion to positioning. This is fine overview of the biz from a pro who has been down the paths and knows what it takes, then communicates it in an understandable, digestible and attractive manner.

Rating:
Summary: Tutor In Print for the Aspiring Gourmet Food Marketer
Review: This is well done, by one who has spent the time and provided his knowledge to prospective entrees into this market.

The material is up-to-date, with great stuff on Web Page Development, etc. I found his advice on channel management, i.e. where to sell, on finding distributors to be very useful.

All pertinent areas are covered, packaging to promotion to positioning. This is fine overview of the biz from a pro who has been down the paths and knows what it takes, then communicates it in an understandable, digestible and attractive manner.