Is Buying Wholesale Oil For Home or Small Business Use Smart?

Posted by Alexa Ketterling

If you use a lot of olive oil for your home kitchen or small business, you may wonder how you can save money by buying it wholesale. Here are some thoughts on why buying wholesale could be a better option than just buying a new retail bottle every time you are out of oil.

We firmly believe — if you are using enough — you should buy your olive oil by the gallon or in 35 Lb. Containers.

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Tips And Tricks For A Successful Trade Show Setup

Posted by Alexa Ketterling

Do you think that showing at a trade show would be beneficial for your company? Do you also find yourself not knowing where to start?

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Soap Ingredient Suppliers We Recommend

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

Are you looking for oils to use in your soap production? Depending on how much you buy, it may be cheaper to buy from a soap-making ingredient supplier who can offer all of your ingredients consolidated into one order.

We talk to lots of soap makers on the hunt for a good fit for a supplier, so we’d like to offer some recommendations.

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3 Factors To Consider When Deciding If A Local Distributor Is Right

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

There’s a common debate for small and growing companies: when should you make the leap from buying from a local distributor or wholesaler to a larger bulk supplier. The reality is that it’s a larger change than you might be prepared for, even if you want the savings of working with a larger bulk supplier.

Here’s the most important things to consider as you’re thinking about buying from a national supplier.

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Small Businesses: Comparing A Local Distributor vs A National Supplier

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

You’re buying olive oil in bulk you say? What type of supplier is going to be the right fit for your needs? It all comes down to how much you’re buying.

What’s the difference between these two kinds of businesses: distributor vs. supplier? There’s actually a lot, and based on how much you’re buying, and if you’re ordering any other ingredients, it will help you to find the right fit.

Here’s a quick review to start with.

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Want To Hire a Food Science Consultant? Here's What You Need To Know

Posted by Rachel Zemser

You have an idea for a new food product – your friends think its great and you have never seen anything like it on the market. You want to manufacture it but have absolutely no idea where to begin!

You have two choices when faced with this daunting task -- you can spend hours and hours figuring out everything from how to start a business, how to find a commercial kitchen or what are the local, state and federal regulations. Or you can hire food industry consultants to help you on the way. It really depends on how much time you have, and how much your time is worth.

Hiring a consultant to guide you on your path is an easy way to bring your product to market. Consultants have experience with co packers, sourcing ingredients and modifying formulas to fit manufacturing parameters. 

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An Easy Guide to Complex Food Labeling Rules

Posted by Dana Harris

The FDA website consists of thousands of pages on food regulations, news, events and new law announcements, food safety tips and resources, answers to frequently asked questions, and other helpful information for both consumers and food business owners.

The problem that many food producers have with the FDA, especially those just starting out with their business, is that the website seems endless and requirements for proper food labeling are very complicated, sometimes even ambiguous. The advice to all food businesses is to consult experts prior to labeling their product.

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An Interview With Food Scientist Rachel Zemser

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

In a recent interview with Rachel Zemser, Justin Hall gets to the root of the basics you need to know if you’re growing a young food brand. 

Rachel brings years of experience as a food scientist to the table working for big brands, and she knows how a new product is brought to market.

Even more importantly, she knows how the retail food industry works; how a food is accepted into a grocery store and how their terms can affect the ingredients that you choose and the market that you go after.

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Difference Between Edible Oil Net Weight, Gross Weight and Pallet Size

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

If you’re looking at bulk oils for the first time from a bulk supplier (vs. a distributor like Costco), you’ll need to know how much oil you’d get in a bulk shipment, determine the weights of the different packaging types and understand how much oil comes on one pallet.

This article will address these three basic questions, as well as why you need know these calculations:

What is net weight? You need to know this to figure out and compare pricing.

What is gross weight? Gross weights help you choose the right packaging and do shipping calculations.

How much oil fits on one pallet? We’ll give you the calculations.

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Should You Buy Edible Oil Ingredients From Costco or a Bulk Supplier?

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

If your small business is growing, you will — at some point— need to make the necessary transition to start buying your ingredients from a bulk supplier.

The hard part is to understand the supply industry and navigate that gray area to figure out when these transitions make sense for your business – both financially and for your facility.

It took me two years and many different small business cost analyses. But the good news is, I ran the numbers (at least 50 times), and I can officially weigh-in and give you an accurate answer on when and why you should buy your ingredients in bulk.  

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5 Reasons Your Business Isn’t Ready To Buy Olive Oil In Bulk

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

Buying in bulk has always been thought to save money. Buy more volume and bigger packaging and save more money. That’s true, BUT, to be able to buy in bulk, a whole bunch of conditions need to be met on your business side of things to have the decision make sense.

On the flip side, there are plenty of times when a small business or restaurant shouldn’t buy from a bulk supplier. If your business sounds similar to the factors below, you should actually stick with your local distributor or food service provider.

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How To Write A Food Formula That Makes Sense To A Manufacturer

Posted by Rachel Zemser

Sometimes — well actually most of the time — I get calls from start ups asking me how they can scale up their recipe to industrial size. The first thing I always ask is,

“Is your formula in percentages? Because that's what manufacturers need to see it in.”

Crickets chirping in the distance— silence on the line…

The client usually says, “I measure my liquids with a measuring cup and I use teaspoons to weigh out my salt and sugar— is that ok?”

I answer NO!  

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The Food Industry’s Best Trade Shows: A Comparison

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

A few years ago, the owners at Centra Foods and I started going to food shows.

Lucky for me, I got to choose which shows to go to. Unlucky for me, I had no knowledge of food shows.

In typical Hannah fashion, I turned on my search skills, reached out to colleges, talked to customers and spoke with the show’s event leaders.

I ended up with about as much information as one person could compile. I had charts and comparisons, but most helpful was Rachel Zemser’s insight, a food consultant who reviewed these shows for people like me (and maybe you too). She spoke about the heart and soul of each event, which gave me a feeling of what it really felt like to attend. In the end, her insight helped me make the best decisions.

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How To Set Goals For Yourself and Your Purchasing Department For 2016

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

This article was originally posted in 2015, and is being re-published in preparation for the new year.

Last year, I ran a half marathon. But I didn’t just go out and do it. I made a 16 week plan of the runs that I was going to do every day, and how I was going to build up to my 13.1 mile finish.

Professional goals are no different than personal goals like these, but professional goal setting often falls by the wayside. It’s important do strategic goal setting, both for your job and for your department -- especially if you manage other people.

Your professional goals also need a plan-- a course of action, or a list of small daily steps you’re going to take to help accomplish these goals. Here’s how to plan for improvement in 2015.

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Purchasing Managers: How To Plan and Meet Your Goals In 2015

Posted by Hannah Broaddus

Setting goals is an important step to improving.

There are, of course, a number of different kinds of goals. You have personal goals for your life, and you have professional goals for your job. But they’re always entangled, some taking priority over others depending on the day.

The best way to achieve all of them is to lay them out separately, prioritize them, and then make a plan for how you can achieve every one.

Here’s a smart framework for purchasing managers to complete your goal setting for 2015-- not just for your job but also for your life.

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