The sad thing is that this turned out to be a harder question to answer than I originally anticipated.  It’s not that there aren’t a thousand companies out there who are making cool things – many of them food businesses to be sure – but are they being innovative?  Are they breaking new ground?  For the most part we’re all following the formula that was laid down by others and simply tweaking the ingredients/recipes/specifics.  I include myself in here as a guilty party as well.

What are you doing that is truly innovative?  What are you doing that is different and will make people take notice?

Looking back, Tina realizes that the first germ of an idea for what has become Tomina’s actually came about 7 years ago when she was standing in a Whole Foods in Bellevue, Washington. “I said to myself,” Tina recalls, “you know what I would like to do? I like to make cookies and I think that would be a lot of fun.”

Fun is one thing and business is another so Tina shelved the idea and kept her marketing position for natural foods companies. The idea resurfaced years later when, after she and her husband had moved back to New Hampshire, she toyed with the idea of creating designer cookies. “I came up with a mental roadblock though,” she says. “I couldn’t see how the process would work so I just put the idea away again.”

The saying is that things often work out for a reason. In Tina’s case, the idea kept percolating in the back of her mind and when the small marketing agency began downsizing she realized that this was the perfect time to strike out on her own. By then, the rise in gluten-intolerance had made national news and Tina was interested in trying to substitute out ingredients and create a gluten-free cookie. “I thought it would be as easy as switching out ingredients but it wasn’t,” she says. “I starting developing recipes and it took me a good three months to come up with five working recipes I was happy with.”

Shipping Plays a Major Role in Product Development

The challenges didn’t end there though. Tina still couldn’t quite figure out a way that she could bake fresh gluten-free cookies that would still taste great days later when, after sitting on a store shelf or having been shipped, customers finally had the chance to eat them. “Shipping and transportation concerns had me worried from day one,” she says. “I didn’t want the cookies to break but I could visualize packaging that I actually liked.”

That, combined with the fact that she didn’t have access to a gluten-free facility where she could bake her cookies, made her think about creating cookie dough. Like many of us who are drawn to the kitchen, Tina had fond memories of making cookies with her mother and how great the kitchen smelled and she wanted to give families the opportunity to have that experience together.

“The actual plan of the dough,” Tina says, “sat better with me. Plus I like to eat cookie dough and it’s far more versatile than a single cookie is.” Tina comments that her cookie dough can be rolled out and used for pie crusts, as one giant cookie, added to ice cream base, or simply eaten directly from the packaging with a spoon. Because Tomina’s are vegan, meaning that they use no eggs, there is no salmonella concern with eating the raw dough.

Making Marketing Personal

Tomina’s are currently sold in 25 retail locations throughout New Hampshire, a few stores in Vermont, and 1 store in Massachusetts. Tina is also actively working on trying to get her products into summer camps so as to provide a safe treat option for kids with food allergies. The cookie dough has to be kept frozen which means she had to secure freezer space in stores which, in most cases, is very limited real estate that’s highly competitive with ice creams and other freezer products.

“Initially I make phone calls and find out who the point person for a store would be,” Tina says of her strategy to open a new wholesale account. “I always set up a time and literally just state that I’d like to drop off some information and samples. That gives me an opportunity to get in front of someone so they can see the product and so they can bake it in the store or share it with their employees or bake it at home. I think it’s important for retailers to know who you are and what your values are and you want to form a relationship with them.” For this reason Tina currently does all the distribution to her stores herself. While she knows she will have to work with a distribution company in the future as her business grows, currently she likes the hands-on approach she can take with her retailers and it helps build a strong level of trust.

“I initially found, when working with Bare Naked Granola, that working directly with the customer had a huge impact on sales. Whether these were people who were already customers or potential customers, simply allowing the customers to taste the product converts them.” Tina has taken this same approach with Tomina’s and does between 2- 4 store demonstrations and samplings at the retailers she sells through. Not only does this show the stores that she’s ready and willing to support them, but it gives customers the chance to try her products which are almost always well received even by people who eat conventional (not gluten-free/vegan) diets.

Biggest Lesson Learned

With one official year of operation under her belt, Tina is not shy about sharing the biggest lesson she’s learned. “When I started this I had a guesstimate on how much it would cost me to make the cookie,” she recalls. “I was trying to use as many organic ingredients as possible – 97 – 98% – but I had no real idea of how much that was costing me.”

As the entire business to date has been self-funded, using that high a percentage of organic ingredients was simply cost prohibitive. Because organic ingredients are important to Tina personally, she worked hard to tweak her recipes so that they had at least 70% organic ingredients. This also made Tomina’s eligible for a State of New Hampshire organic certification. “I am certified to say on my label Made With Organic Ingredients,” Tina tells us. “It’s a wonderful thing because not only am I certified to use the organic logo but that also means that there are no GMO ingredients in my products.

That change helped balance out the cost of the cookie dough so that Tomina’s has a substantially better chance at profitability. After learning that lesson, Tina realized she needed another business person to help her bounce ideas off of and provide expertise so she turned to her local SCORE office. “I have a SCORE mentor now,” Tina says, “who is really great in making me think about things I wouldn’t have thought about and who makes me plan for the future in stages so that I can make things actually happen.”

If you’re interested in learning more about Tomina’s you can find their website here or click here to check out the company’s Facebook page.

Related Articles:

• Courser Farm Kitchen Granola
• Secret Squirrel Cold Brew Coffee
• Unbound Pickling

One quick update about webinars, I bit the bullet and decided to pay for a more robust version of the webinar software that would prevent you all from being bombarded by ads while you watched the webinar.  Best of all, though, it also gives you the ability to watch the webinar at a later date if you’re not able to make it on the scheduled day/time.  Webinar recordings will be kept for 30 days and will be accessible to anyone who pre-registers for the event.  Space is limited however so sign up soon!

Related Article:

• Working with Graphic Designers Webinar for Small Food Businesses

1. Do you remember Roxanne Daigle? She was featured on this site at the beginning of the year talking about her quest to get a Cottage Food Bill passed in Louisiana.  Well Roxanne’s hard work (and that of countless other citizen volunteers and supporters) has paid off.  Roxanne let me know last week that they’ve successfully passed Louisiana’s first-ever Cottage Food Bill.  Hooray!!

2. As we walk down memory lane, do you remember Secret Squirrel Cold Brew Coffee Company?  They were a featured Entrepreneur Spotlight a few weeks back.  They’ve recently launched a Kickstarter project aimed at raising $7,500 (and they’re already more than halfway there as of the writing of this article).  Trevor sent me an email letting me know about the Kickstarter project but also thanking Intrigue Chocolates for their willingness to share “Insider Tips On How To Start A Successful Kickstarter Campaign” on this site based on their own successful Kickstarter project.  One thing Trevor really appreciated was how Intrigue Chocolates said that food businesses should plan on spending 4 months preparing to launch their Kickstarter.  “You were so right,” he said via email, ”it’s a ton of work.”

By the way, I’ve had a chance to see Intrigue Chocolates new – Kickstarter funded – packaging in person and it’s absolutely gorgeous!

3. In totally seperate news, if you’re a food truck entrepreneur or are hoping to become one, I recently heard about the ROAM conference – a new mobile food conference that’s taking place in Portland September 13 – 15.  If I didn’t already have plans that weekend to celebrate my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary I’d be there in a heartbeat (still considering it but think if I do it might not bode well for me making it to my own 50th wedding anniversary!).  The conference looks interesting, Portland in September is usually gorgeous, and Portland has something like upwards of 600 food trucks to keep you full during your stay there.  I’m hot at all affiliated with the conference but did think it might be something you food truck entrepreneurs might be interested in hearing about.

4. Lastly, don’t forget to share your Summer Food Adventure photos on Instagram using the #smallfoodbiz13 hashtag.  Otherwise you’re just going to end up seeing a few posts this Summer that are consist of only my pictures and that means there will be lots of pictures of my dogs.  You can’t say you haven’t been warned! 

You never really intended for The Caramel Jar to become a full-time  business, did you? Can you tell us a little bit about where you thought  your life was headed and how you ended up becoming a caramel connoisseur instead.

When The Caramel Jar was born, I was a month away from relocating from NYC  to rural PA for my Husband’s new job. I assumed I would start the  business as a way to make a tiny contribution to our household while  searching for my next non profit management position. Instead, caramel  was undergoing a bit of a renaissance and the market loved our product!  Thus, I tossed my nonprofit management job aspirations aside and now  head our growing caramel venture. I know I’ve said this before, but it’s truly the best job ever!

The time and care put into the production of each small batch of caramel is truly what differentiates our company. From start to finish, our  products are 100% handmade by myself or one of my talented production  assistants. Our caramels are then hand-wrapped in natural parchment  paper, something that was unheard of until we started the brown  parchment wrappers trend in 2010. Until then, caramels came in white wax or cellophane wrappers. In addition, we use reusable classic mason jars and compostable natural unbleached wax paper bags as part of our  packaging. Our commitment to being an eco-friendly company was  established from the very beginning!

I shy away from disclosing specifics about percentages of revenue {unless you’re an investor} but am happy to say that weddings comprise a  significant portion of our revenue portfolio. Other meaningful revenue  categories include baby showers, year round holiday gifting and  corporate/client gifts.

We believe in customization for any client. There are a few things that are difficult; we’re located in a very rural town, so last minute  requests are not always able to be fulfilled, however, given enough  time, we’ve done pretty much every customization you can imagine!  Knowing the bride/groom are delighted with the end product is what  continues to drive my creativity and growth for our brand.

Absolutely! There is nothing more important to the growth of our business than  credible press. The validation that our product is worth the splurge has driven sales each and every year. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve never had to seek out press {YAY!} The editors for each opportunity saw our  product on Etsy and/or received our product as a gift, requested samples and fell in love enough to include our company in their respective  magazine.

The rest of the logistics we’ll keep under wrap, but honestly, we start  talking logistics with our clients immediately after they contact us to  ensure that the process will be as seamless as possible. Considering  our wedding clients come back time and time again for favors, gifts and  additional family member’s weddings, I think we’re delivering as  promised.

We book weddings throughout the year, so I have to plan accordingly on the financial side to make sure that I’ll appropriate cashflow through the  year to create, staff and ship our wedding products to our clients.  However, yes, our wedding season runs strong from May – Nov. Now and  then there will be a few light weeks, for which we’re always thankful!

Your packaging is picture-perfect, both in real life and on in your Etsy  storefront.  Do you take your own pictures or do you have someone else  take them?

Awww..thanks! I take 50% of our photos displayed on Etsy and all of the photos on our website http://thecarameljar.com and the rest of the Etsy photos are taken by the fabulous Jonathan Young of http://youngepicurean.com or http://jyweddings.com. Jonathan and his wife Elisabeth Millay are both wedding photographers,  and former wedding favor clients of mine. Jonathan offered to take  photos of our products in 2011 and it’s really been the best investment  for our brand! He really delivered amazing photos that will be used for  years to come by The Caramel Jar!

Any other recommendations or words of advice for specialty food producers  who think their products might make a nice addition to weddings?

Be prepared and you’ll do great! Learn from your mistakes! It’s a very very very steep learning curve, but very rewarding.

Got a special event of your own coming up or you just want to drool over some delicious-looking caramel?  Click here to check out The Caramel Jar. 

Initial photo credit Leila Brewster.  Two additional photos were taken by Jonathon Young. All photos printed with permission by the Caramel Jar.

Wedding week continues with a guest post where we take a look at how catering companies not only should, but need to, be utilizing social media to succeed!

But before you sign up for every social media site out there, you should first know what your business strengths are. Ask yourself these questions: ‘what exactly is it that you’re trying to promote?’ and ‘who is your target market?’ These two crucial questions can help you determine which social media sites would best serve your goals. Take time to brainstorm and write down your ideas. Don’t be afraid to turn to unconventional marketing methods if you have to. You want your business to stand out so just get out there and be creative with it. Here’s a list of the top 5 social media marketing sites to get your started.

1. Facebook

We’ll start off with the most popular social media site, Facebook. What’s great about Facebook is that it allows you to create a page specifically for your business.  Just click on the ‘create a page” link on Facebook and voila! You have your own business page that you can easily manage through your personal account. Make sure to update all fields with the right details and don’t forget to upload pictures and content about your business. Facebook has a broad audience that you can market to so it’s important that you always post quality updates.

2. Instagram

Another great way to promote your start-up catering company to potential clients is through Instagram. Instagram is currently one of the most popular photo sharing sites online and through mobile, so you’ll be able to gain a following fast. This is perfect for you if you have a lot of photos from past catering jobs that you want to share. Post photos of your most creative setups and use effects if you want to add a bit of dramatic flair to the image.
3. Pinterest

You can also use Pinterest to promote your catering company. Pinterest is a relatively new site that allows you to get more referred traffic and quality leads just through ‘pinning’. Since it has already numbered over ten million active users in 2012, Pinterest can help you get your message across through its growing online community. Just remember to be smart about organizing your boards and pins so that you can provide your audience with a visually compelling spread of your services.
4. Twitter

Once the content has been posted, it’s time to get a following. Twitter is the easiest way to get key influencers that can help promote your business. Look for wedding planners around your area and connect with them. You can mention them in a post or you can also comment on theirs. You need develop trust here so refrain from being too overwhelming. Add a few people at a time so that you can really focus on “tweeting” quality tweets. Always aim for quality and not quantity to gain a good online reputation.
5. Google+

And last but not the least, there’s Google+. Google+ is like Facebook and Twitter rolled into one so it’s great for not just promoting posts, but  also for getting people to read those posts. You can create circles of followers and categorize them according to content that would best interest each circle. Google+ makes it easier to promote strategically, depending on your market.

So there you have it. Now that you have a better idea on how you can use social media websites to your advantage, start planning out your social media marketing plan today. Social media marketing can help you get your message across more efficiently and without an additional  marketing cost. Although managing multiple social media networks may seem a bit daunting in the beginning, it’s definitely worth all the extra effort once you get the hang of it.

Author Bio:

Julieane Hernandez is a marketing graduate turned baker. She’s an advanced tri-athlete during summer. She’s been in the catering services and baking industry for about 5 years now and is constantly learning from her experiences in the industry.   

Wendi has been making wedding and celebration cakes professionally for more than 10 years.  Though in recent years she’s cutback on the volume of business she’ll accept in order to raise her young son, she creates truly elegant and unique custom cakes

Connecting With Brides & Grooms

Wendi has been making wedding and celebration cakes professionally for more than 10 years.  For this reason, Wendi says she’s seen a lot of change in the wedding industry.   Originally, Wendi focused on using Google Adwords and having listings on weddings sites to help drive business her way.  But that tactic has grown increasingly popular which makes it harder, and more expensive, for a wedding cake baker to stand out.  “When I started I was paying $.06 per click for the top slot on Google,” Wendi remembers.  “Now it’s $1.50 to be on that first page!”

Social media, in Wendi’s opinion, is now the best and most direct way to reach out to new brides who don’t already know about you.  One wedding cake designer not only has an active Facebook presence but also uses Facebook ads targeted only towards ‘engaged’ women and men so as to best target those people who are most likely actively planning weddings.

Without a doubt though, Wendi still believes that good old-fashioned networking and relationship building is still the most powerful way to drive business to your company.  She recommends getting to know and work with other wedding-related vendors such as caterers, coordinators, and florists.  Since Wendi works in (and owns and runs) a kitchen incubator, this makes it easier for her to network with caterers who share the space with her and they all refer business to one another.

Similarly, it benefits you to get to know other wedding cake bakers whose work you admire and trust.  Undoubtedly at some point you will run into the situation where you simply aren’t able to take on another cake for that day/weekend and you will want a few names that you can refer that client out to.   This is a two-way street and chances are those who you refer out to will also refer business your way when they are at capacity.

As far as wedding shows – those big convention centers filled with eager bridal parties and hundreds of vendors, Wendi says that she personally doesn’t find them to be beneficial to independent wedding cake designers like herself.  “For most cake makers, if you’re billing between $500 – $1200 per cake it will be very hard to get a good return on your several thousand dollar investment to be in the wedding show.  Not to mention the cost to you of samples that are eaten at the show.  There is just so much competition at these shows that it’s hard to stand out.”  Wendi says that these shows might be beneficial to caterers who charge $10,000 for their wedding-related services or to large wedding cake stores that can pump out cakes in high volumes, but a small wedding cake maker really needs to question whether they are going to make their money back before committing to a show like this.

Pricing Wedding Cakes So You Make A Profit

It’s no secret that wedding cakes are more expensive than your ordinary sheet cake.  The question to cake makers is how to price your cakes in a way that a) makes sense to the bridal party b) is competitively priced and c) will cover you not only for your ingredients but also the time it takes you to pull the cake together.

Wendi explains that part of the reason that wedding cakes are more expensive is because that they come with a higher level of service.  “Brides or someone in the bridal party may want one or more consultations, they may change the guest counts several times, they may change logistics; the wedding cake maker will put more time into this event then an ordinary cake and in order to deliver the highest possible level of service that needs to be accounted for.”

Wendi acknowledges that the most common way to charge for wedding cakes is by the slice but she personally charges by the size of the size of the cake tier and how many tiers.  She explains it this way, “because guest counts change, if you charge by the slice then the bride and groom may expect the price of the cake to go down if they’re guest count has gone down by 6 people.  But with small changes you may still have to make the same size cake.”  Wendi believes that charging by the tier makes it easier for the bride and groom to understand that if they add/subtract a tier (or add/subtract enough guests that it changes how many tiers are needed) then the pricing will change but otherwise they can expect pricing to be consistent with the estimate they originally received.

Wendi has developed a pricing system that includes a base price which she has calculated covers her ingredients and the time to construct a simple cake.  Her base price includes, at this time, Italian Meringue Buttercream, simple garnish, 2 flavor combinations in the cake, a consultation, and delivery and setup within city limits.  Everything else, she explains, is additional.  This includes things like special frostings (such as rolled fondant or marzipan), additional ingredients, or things like handmade flowers or special scroll work that will take additional time to create.   She lays all of this out in the estimate which enables the bride and groom to determine what they want versus what they can afford.

Wendi also believes that cake makers should be willing to charge what their time is worth.  For intricate work Wendi builds in an hourly rate of $30.  Certainly, she acknowledges, hers are not the cheapest cakes on the market, but her attention-to-detail and quality ingredients are evident in every cake and she believes she shouldn’t undersell herself.

One other recommendation Wendi has is setting a minimum for cakes to ensure that you’re not spending all of your time on a cake that will not net you much at the end of the day.  In Wendi’s case she has a $350 minimum and she charges a $25 tasting and consultation fee.  The fee, she says, helps weed out people who were just cruising around tasting cakes with no real plan to hire the cake maker.  Since instituting the fee she now books 75-80% of the people who come in for a tasting compared with approximately 20% before.  “I feel that they are just more serious,” she says.

For cakes she’s hired to do that fall about the minimum $350 she’s set she will actually refund the $25 fee back to the bride and groom.  Cakes that fall below that minimum though she will keep the fee and will also charge for delivery and other aspects of the cake to ensure that her bottom line doesn’t suffer.

Know Your Limit

For small wedding cake makers who might be working by themselves or, even, doing this part-time in addition to a regular job (or raising kids!), Wendi stresses that it’s important to know your limit.  You are committing to give the bride and groom an excellent experience so you want to make sure you have the time and attention to devote to them during the planning stages as well as on the actual day that their cake is scheduled to be delivered.  At one point Wendi accepted upwards of 6 cakes per weekend and she says it was “suicide.”  “For one person that meant an 80-hour week with a minimum of 14 hour days on Friday and Saturday.  It was simply exhausting!”

Since then Wendi, and in part because she now has a young son, she has placed stricter limits on how many cakes she’ll accept.  “It’s about budgeting my time,” she says.  “Now I will accept up to 2 cakes per weekend and I charge more than I used to.  But I’m also enjoying it more than I used to.”

Side note, I use the phrase ‘bride and groom’ to stand for any two people getting married regardless of their sex…it’s just easier…and I hope that doesn’t offend anyone.

For brides and grooms, food trucks aren’t just a way to showcase that they’re on the cutting edge food-wise.  In some cases, food trucks might be their only option if their venue doesn’t have the kitchen requirements needed by a traditional caterer.  For others, having a food truck come to their event might prove to be a way to cut costs and still provide great food.  For others still, a food truck is just fun!  Here are some tips to help you get started on the road to wedding catering:

1. Determine what it is you’re going to offer.  Are you willing to step outside your normal menu fare and offer weddings guests something they can’t get off your truck day-in or day-out?  Or would you prefer to what you know (and what’s made you locally famous) and offer your normal menu?  Neither option is wrong, just make sure you know what you’re getting into before you start marketing your truck for weddings.

2. What services are you going to offer?  Many people think that when it comes to weddings they either cater the whole shindig or nothing at all, but with a food truck you have more flexibility.  You can certainly offer to cater the entire event but you should also think about  marketing yourself as a late night surprise that can come and feed the guests long after the caterer has cleared out.  Or perhaps you can be a ‘Sweet Spot’ compliment in addition to the traditional wedding cake?  Leaving yourself open to different options leaves yourself open to the possibility of more business.

3. How are you going to price your services?  Obviously, if you’re going to spend time going out to these events then you want to make sure that they’re making you money.  The beauty of weddings is that you typically are going to have a very firm idea in advance of how many people will be there which can minimize your inventory risk and waste.  When it comes to pricing, several models that are popular amongst food trucks is to offer that to the bride and groom to pay a ’total guest’ fee in that you provide a price for your services based on the total number of guests at the event.  Alternatively, you might choose to offer a ‘per plate’ fee in which you would only be paid for those guests that actually get something from your truck (and if guests come back for seconds then that’s another plate!).  It’s also not unheard of to add in an hourly fee that would cover the cost of your time or your employees time during the event.  Whichever model or combination you use is up to you but make sure it’s clearly documented in the contract and understood by all parties.

4. How do you plan to get the word out? Now that you’ve figured out those other pieces of the equation, you have to make others aware of it.  You should have a marketing strategy in place to help you spread the word.  Depending on what your goals are with this program, you should consider doing things like putting this information onto your website and any marketing collateral you have (ie, a print menu if you have one, rack cards, even painted onto your truck itself!).  Don’t forget to add something to your Facebook page in the About section and your Twitter profile as well as any other social media tools you use.  Ask for the couple’s permission to post pictures of your truck at the wedding onto your social media pages after the event to help others visualize how your truck might look at their venue.

If it’s in your budget, you may also consider advertising directly to brides and grooms.  You can do online advertising or pay-per-click advertising targeting brides and grooms (or wedding planners – don’t forget them!).  For some, advertising in local wedding magazines can prove to have a high ROI.  Try doing a little research too and see if there is a wedding planners association in your area and whether you might be able to spread the word through them.

5. Who is going to service these accounts? Weddings are notoriously ‘high touch’ and by that I mean that they can require a lot of handholding to keep your brides and grooms happy.  You need to determine if you have the time or have the staff to manage these accounts and keep the wedding party (and their guests) happy.

If you’ve taken your food truck to weddings and have any other suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Tuesday: Tips To Help Food Trucks Say I Do! To Weddings

Wednesday: Wedding Cake Business Basics

Thursday: How To Market Your Start up Catering Business To Wedding Planners Through Social Media

Friday:  Do Yourself A Favor! How Weddings Can Prove Profitable For Your Specialty Food Business