Question

State 5 legal requirements and marketing analysis for online food delivery business.

Answer 1

Answer :

1.Know The Law
The first thing to know about food law is that regulations vary depending on where you’re from. Rules in the U.S are different from those in the E.U, for example.

If you live in the U.S, you’ll need to follow what’s known as the Cottage Food Laws. Again, these can differ slightly from state-to-state, but we’re going to run through some of the essentials you’ll need to be aware of, wherever you’re from.

To get legal approval, you’ll need a few things:

An annual kitchen inspection conducted by the health department
A zoning clearance/permit from the department of agriculture or health
A valid state business license
Proof your store meets sanitary regulations for all food storage spaces, cold and dry
No pets in the kitchen, or in the house if it’s a home kitchen
Whether you decide to cook in your home kitchen or in a commercial kitchen, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the local regulations that you’re expected to follow. If you decide to sell food online through a supplier (rather than handling the food yourself), you’ll need to research the supply chain to make sure your ingredients are up to standard.

Regardless of your plan, know that federal, state, and local authorities are here to help you! It’s their job to know the laws inside and out, so they’re a great resource to consult. Of course, the requirements we’ve listed here are the minimum needed to run your food business. We’d be here all day if we listed everything, but we would recommend having a proper read of the Cottage Food Laws website for more details, and to find information on your specific state.
2.Find Your Niche
Some of you may already sell food in person. Others may just be set on a killer idea. But if you’re yet to nail your niche, allow us to help.

A good place to start is by researching food trends. Waste reduction is a hot topic at the moment, so advertising that you cook with misshapen fruit or veg could be a nice angle, for example.

Next, you need to know where you sit in a crowded market. Are you an affordable, everyday brand? Or a gourmet luxury? Is your focus clean-eating health? Or indulgent treats?

All of this will play into how you brand and advertise yourself. Everything from picking a company color palette to understanding what text and logo design to use will hinge on how you want your products to be seen.

3Source Your Supplier
Whether cooking your own food or buying pre-made goods to sell, you’ll need to find a supplier. The tricky thing is knowing which ones are credible.

Using sites such as Food Master can help you source suppliers that specialize in the ingredients you need. Once you’ve drawn up a list, you’ll want to check for certificates, and can even ask for references.

This is all very common, so don’t be afraid to ask a supplier about its credentials. Remember, anything supplied to you will directly represent your company. If the supplier says its produce is organic, don’t just take that as gospel – look into it.

4.Create Your Brand, Packaging and Labelling
At this point, you should have a clear idea of what food you want to sell and how you’re going to produce it. You’ll have also given some thought to your branding. Now, it’s time to put your decisions into practice.

Business Name
A business name should be three things: memorable, relevant, and easy to spell.

Sure, ‘Mary’s cupcakes’ is relevant and easy to spell, but will it stick in people’s minds?

Try and get creative. Think outside the box, and ask others for their opinions. If you’re planning on selling internationally, you’ll also want to make sure the name isn’t misrepresented or lost in translation.

Brand Colors
A color isn’t just a shade – it’s an emotion. The colors you choose make people feel certain ways. You can be bold and inspiring, heated and passionate, or cool and innovative, all through the colors you decide on.

When it comes to psychology, food companies tend to go for bright colors. They’re exciting, clear, and can encourage impulse purchases. Yellows, reds and oranges are all associated with indulgent food, while greens and blues typically express health and vitality.

Product Imagery
Your product images are a customer’s first point of contact with your food – and first impressions count!

Unless you fancy yourself as a skilled photographer, we’d recommend paying for professional product imagery. This can help make your food jump off your web page and into a customer’s cart.

5
Price Your product
It’s all fine making a cool complete with an excellent USP, behind that sits some tasty delights – however because the previous speech goes, ‘money talks.’

However smart your product area unit, you continue to have to be compelled to knowledge to cost them. Under- or over-valuing your food within the semipermanent might see your business tank. So, however are you able to compute the correct price?

Well, Shopify features a good in small stages guide that helps you're employed this out, that we’ll provide you with a short summary of below.

Calculate Your Variable prices
First off, you wish to understand what quantity your food is cost accounting to provide and sell. Things just like the value of ingredients, packaging, and shipping all have to be compelled to be taken into consideration.

If you sell soups, for instance, add up all the variable prices concerned and verify what quantity you’re truly paying per carton.

Create a ratio
Next, you wish to understand what quantity of a profit you wish to show. To do this, think about the number of profit you would like to get (e.g. 15 August 1945 profit).

Once you have got a proportion in mind, you wish to show it into a decimal. this can be merely done by dividing it by a hundred (e.g. fifteen / a hundred = zero.15).

Now you have got a figure for your variable prices, and a decimal range representing ratio. From here, calculate what quantity you ought to charge per product. this could get a bit maths-y, however don’t worry – simply follow Shopify’s straightforward equation, shown below:

Target worth = (Variable value per product) / (1 – your required ratio as a decimal)

Factor in fastened prices
Other prices to think about area unit things like rental house for food preparation, change of state instrumentation, storage rental, insurance, licencing fees, and worker wages. All of those have to be compelled to be factored in to confirm your business at leasts breaks even

.

6Create Your on-line Store
It’s the instant you’ve been waiting for… time to place your arrange into action!

There ar 3 effective plans for commerce food from home. you'll be able to profit of on-line marketplaces (think Amazon or Etsy), produce your own ecommerce web site (with platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce), or sell curated product through a provider.
7.Market Your product
Building up a relationship together with your customers is one among the pillars of ecommerce success. promoting could be a fantastic approach of not solely obtaining your product into the general public eye, however building a rapport with shoppers and creating them desire they’re a part of your business’ vision.