I'd check out the local health laws etc.
Get bonded...biz license etc.

Once you accept $ for your product you have to go by your local laws etc.

Lots of stuff you should do before selling any food product to protect yourself and others.

Lots of info on THP that you should read posted by people who sell their pepper products.

Could cost you a lot of $ if you get caught selling sauce that isn't labeled or bottled according to whatever your state,county etc. wants.

All it takes is 1 customer to file a complaint about you sauce to whoever...

Here is a link that might be useful: info on the food biz

Double post...

Here is a link that might be useful: info on the food biz

This post was edited by smokemaster_2007 on Tue, Sep 3, 13 at 20:57

Check campus regulations too. Organizations and individuals aren't allowed to sell anything on my campus without a contract with the college.

And make sure to carry insurance, we are a sue happy nation. Interestingly OK recently passed a law that people can sell food stuff from their kitchen without all the inspections and such, but you have to make less than a few thousand a year from the products. The health laws can be rough. Check out the local farmers markets, and any herb festivals in your area, those are really good places to start out. I've been trying to talk my partner and her husband into selling their sauces, heck, her and I already have a booth at the local herb festivals so her husband doesn't even have to bother with that part. But no go yet.
Good luck.
Pam

Pam has a good suggestion about starting at farmer's markets. I sell some of mine at our church table at the local farmer's market ($2/bottle). We also sell artisan bread. All the proceeds go the the local fuel bank. Also, take note of Smoke's warning about local food laws, which vary considerably.
John A

I think the first place I'd go is to those folks that suggested you sell the sauce. Some folks are complimentary only when the product is complimentary :-)

some interesting input thus far. I am going to look into the local laws governing sale of food products right now. tampa is such a backwards city, I'm afraid of what I might find.

tn_gardening, good idea, but these people already get free hot sauce from me. why buy the cow when the milk is free?

my wife thinks I should start an etsy account.

it appears florida has a "cottage food" law allowing certain types of stuff to be made and sold without a license, as long as it is not sold wholesale and is properly labeled. it's unclear from the publication I read whether hot sauce counts for this, so i sent an email to ask.

god I hope this goes well, otherwise my wife is gonna kill me for ordering bottles before I researched it.

Let us know how it goes. Also if your setting up at a market somewhere local, im in tampa area id stop by and pick up a bottle.

this was the response I got back:

"Good Afternoon,

Thank you for contacting the Florida Department of Agriculture concerning our requirements for producing a sauce (BBQ or Hot sauce) without temperature control. Your product does not fall under the Cottage Food Act.

For information on permitting, facility requirements, and food labeling please visit our website below.

http://www.freshfromflorida.com/fs/permitrq.html

If you wanted to make a sauce that does not require refrigeration then the product would need to be evaluated by a process authority, please see the attachment for information on process authorities. The process authority must evaluate the process and product to determine if the sauce is safe at room temperature and if it is an acid or an acidified food. I have attached an example of what is expected from a process authority. You will need to submit the information provided by the process authority to a member of our HACCP team before processing can begin. Based on the provided information we will be able to determine if you need to do the following:

÷ If your food is determined by a process authority to be an acidified food and you sell retail, then you will need to comply with additional regulation. This will include a HACCP plan. Please see attachment for information on HACCP and attachment for a template to create your own HACCP plan.

÷ If you sell your product to other businesses and/or across state lines you will need to register with FDA as a food manufacturing facility. Please use the website below for registering (it is free and online).

http://www.fda.gov/food/guidancecomplianceregulatoryinformation/registrationoffoodfacilities/default.htm

÷ If your food is determined by a process authority to be an acidified food and you sell wholesale then you will need to register with FDA as an acidified food processor and file a scheduled process. Your process authority will be able to assist with the scheduled process. Please visit the website below for information on acidified foods.

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/AcidifiedLow-AcidCannedFoods/EstablishmentRegistrationThermalProcessFiling/Instructions/ucm2007436.htm
÷ If your product is made by a co-bottler the product will still need a process authority evaluation on it. The process authority information will need to be submitted to FDACS for review.

For nutritional labeling visit

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm2006867.htm and http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm063113.htm

Thank you,

Bureau of Food and Meat Inspection

Division of Food Safety

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services"

looks like I've got some homework to do.

And some shopping. For a pH tester at least.

Many vegetable-based sauces, because of the possibility of botulism, have tight regulations. Moslty it's just proving that you can follow a process that's been already tested, and keep records about your batches.

Look into the possibility of using a "community kitchen" ... if I were to want to make some foods for sale here, I can rent the kitchen with its health department certificate for the cooking part.

Most people I know that make small quantities of sauce rent/barter for a few hours of use of kitchens at the local eateries legion huts etc.
Prep stuff at home before hand-cut up onions,pre measure everything in containers ,Ready to ad to the pot once you start cooking at wherever.
It makes it a LOT easier.No kitchen inspections etc.
Plus you have room to work as opposed to a home kitchen.Not to mention they have steam tables and steam chests that can bottle a whole batch in a very short time,Commercial equipment etc.
Several people I know just bring a few fresh pods around here and there during season and get free access to the kitchen on slow days or before and after hours.
If you grow a garden with other veggies like tomatoes,they love a bag of fresh picked every so often.
Planting an extra plant goes a LONG way in getting free kitchen use.
A lot end up buying your extras-because it's fresh off the plant.

I'd think people should check out the THP site links.
The post I gave was info from people who been there and done that.
Lots of footwork can be eliminated by knowing exactly where to go the first time round.
Post where you live and ask for info.
I bet some one will be in your state and be able to save you research time by giving you exactly what you need to deal with in your state along with the Fed. stuff.

I'm not trying to push thp on anyone.It's just that the site is basically a bunch of people selling stuff to each other or whatever.
Lots of traffic there from vendors.
Just a possible resource to get info without going through as much hassles.

If I remember right,you already go to thp.

Salsa Lady is very good at giving helpful info on how to get into the food biz.

I mostly posted the above for those interested in this post because they are thinking about selling Pods,Powders or sauces-food products.
Not trying to rag on you at all.

This post was edited by smokemaster_2007 on Tue, Sep 3, 13 at 21:38

thank you everyone for the help.

smoke, you've been more than helpful. I don't feel like you were ragging on me at all.

worst case scenario, if I can't sell any of my sauce, and I have all these bottles (when I already have a bunch of empty 10oz ones sitting in my closet), at least I know what I'm giving people for christmas this year.

I am not going into health, legal issues here.
But from a general marketing angle, I can make a few suggestions:

PACKAGING;
Look at the packaging of high end fancy food items like Jellies, Jams, cookies, soaps etc. The main and basic ingredients of those are no different from those sold in Walmart. Last weekend I was in a tourist town of Germanic heritage called Leavenworth, WA. A 6-8 oz jam, salsa, etc in nice packaging were marked close to $10 bucks and more. PACKAGING is one of the important factors in niche marketing. A nice glass container, with a beautiful print of a pepper plant with a colorful fruit on the label, will sell much better than the same with xerox copied label.

Or try to give it an old cottage garden impression. You need to make it different and special item, non-homogenious, that cannot be compared to anything sold in grocery stores.

Now it’s 2020 and some regulations have changed… You’ve pretty much described what I am trying to do. I’ve been making hot sauce and giving it away for years, everyone says I should make more and sell it. It’s quite good! Have you pursued this, and if so, any warnings, definite do’s/don’ts? All I’ve tea re:hot sauce is ambiguous. Thanks!