When considering alternative outlets for your products, supplying specialty food manufacturers may be an attractive option. Knowing what to expect when working with specialty food manufacturers will help you determine if it is the right fit for you and what changes you might need to make. This fact sheet highlights common requirements/criteria that specialty food manufacturers look for in the ingredients they purchase and the suppliers they work with.
Beyond Fresh and Direct fact sheets are part of a project exploring the opportunities and challenges small and medium-size farms encounter when they seek to enter the rapidly-growing specialty food marketplace as either ingredient suppliers or manufacturers themselves. The project included:
- A survey of specialty food manufacturers in California, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin in 2015, and
- Interviews with selected manufacturers and farmers who supply manufacturers in four broad food categories: dairy; grain and baked goods; processed meats; and processed fruit, vegetables, nuts, and herbs
Continue reading:
Criteria: What Criteria Must You Meet to Sell to Specialty Food Manufacturers? (PDF)
Project Team:
Larry Lev, Oregon State University, Project Director
Gail Feenstra, University of California-Davis
Shermain Hardesty, University of California-Davis
Laurie Houston, Oregon State University
Jan Joannides, Renewing the Countryside
Robert P. King, University of Minnesota
This project was supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2015-68006-22906 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.