The Small Shop In Today's Economy

huckelberry · Post by **huckelberry** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 13:08

I read the artical sometime back and find it disconcerting that in a place that has had the opportunity to enjoy the rewards of true artists so recently, would be allowing this to happen.
Soon the art will fall by the wayside and just like the good old U.S.A. only large facilities concerned with nothing but the bottom line will reign supreme.
Then they will push for laws that make it nearly impossible for anyone to try to start their own business and compete with them. Especially someone who is trying to make a quality product like a true charcuterie it will become cost prohibitive.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 13:41

Jason Story could write a chapter in a book concerning the start-up cost for a cured meat business. If you have never started a business you can not imagine the complexity involved.

huckelberry · Post by **huckelberry** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 01:06

I can only imagine.
I was considering opening a speciality meat shop with some fresh and smoked sausage and the more I looked in to it the more impossible it seemed, with the restrictions and red tape put in place by the F.D.A. , U.S.D.A., and all the other letters in the alphabet it becomes so costly and complicated that it's a wonder anyone even tries, much less succeeds.
It's nice to here someone has had success and I wish him all the luck in the world.
The biggest portion of my problem was I don't have any real commercial experience with this type of industry to draw on, I just really enjoy doing this.
Though I have made quite a few of the smoked and fresh types of sausage over the years
I haven't yet gotten in to the semi-dry and dry cured sausages because I don't have a fermentation chamber... YET!
I really look forward to trying though, and with a site like this how can I miss...

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 02:22

CW will split this topic pretty soon but in the meantime consider this. I make very good bread and friends have suggested that I open a bakery. To support my lifestyle I need about 200 dollars per day. Assume that I can make a profit of 1 dollar per loaf of bread. I must bake and sell 200 loaves a day. I need a bigger oven. I need to pay for the oven so I need to make 25 more loaves of bread. I am busy making bread so I must hire someone to sell my bread. To pay her I must make more bread. Now I must make so much bread that I need a helper in the kitchen and he will want to be paid so now I need to make even more bread. And thus it continues.

huckelberry · Post by **huckelberry** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 03:21

I understand business... I have acreage and wanted to supply most of my own cattle and hogs for a small business which would help to offset costs.
What I hadn't taken in to account is the fact that the U.S.D.A. and all the other governing bodies make the slaughter and sale of your own animals nearly impossible for the little guy, and getting one of the larger approved plants to accommodate doing a small number of cattle and hogs is even more unlikely.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 04:32

You need a USDA approved slaughter house and a USDA approved processing facility and a USDA approved retail facility and you must pass local health department inspections. You also need considerable financial strength to survive the entire process. All of this is in place because causing a person to become ill as a result of your food handling practice is a very difficult situation to explain to the judge.

story28 · Post by **story28** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 04:42

Thanks for the nice mention, Ross. And hello HB. I can chime in and tell you anything you'd like. The job certainly is a difficult one. And, not to dissuade, but there is definitely a difference between the required knowledge to be a talented hobbyist vs. a talented professional.

The plus side is everyone starts as an amateur. Your rate of growth and evolution as a professional is what matters.

The FSIS, USDA, and FDA are just small hurdles in a very large equation. Your talent needs to be broad and your courage broader - if not you will make your decisions from fear. We just had the USDA here last week supervising our local health inspector and they both couldn't have been nicer. Granted - we don't do anything like hacks.

Here is a link to our site and a few other small guys that are worth taking a look at for inspiration and encouragement:

http://www.threelittlepigsdc.com/

http://fattedcalf.com/

http://www.saltandtime.com/

http://thespottedtrotter.com/

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 04:01

Topic split 10.14.12@20:55 by CW. See "Small Business Clean-Up" in the "Beginners" Forum.

Post by **redzed** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 07:53

story28 wrote:
The plus side is everyone starts as an amateur.

Well, this is where I'm not sure that it's actually a "plus side". For the past couple of generations our society has come to value and elevate education that is quite worthless, unproductive, without any value added to the economy and overall benefit. We treated tradespersons and skilled craftspersons as second rate, choosing to study psychology and sociology instead. Where has this led us? All the psych and socio grads are working in Starbucks and the tradesmen are in China.

There is definately a market for artisan produced meat products, the stuff you buy in the supermarkets is simply crap. Just go to WallyWorld and read the ingredients in their "Kielbasa". One of the main ingredients is "mechanically separated chicken", along with several phosphates and another twenty or so ingredients. And it tastes worse than salty wet cardboard.

So my point here is that if want to enter the profession and business, you should not start as an amateur. You should be able to complete proper post secondary education in the field, followed by an apprenticeship program. Unfortunately these opportunities do not abound which is unfortunate not only for the small charcuterie industry but for the consumer as well.

Sorry for the rant, but it comes from someone who spent eight years regurgitating worthless erudition at a few universities.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 13:09

Red I am so sorry that you made educational choices that have proved to be irrelevant to your present vocation and avocation. I have not been so burdened but instead became a craftsman choosing to self educate in the humanities and sciences. My vocations have been many and not always monetarily rewarding.
It is not difficult to work the numbers and determine if you can make a business venture return a profit and it is never too late to attempt a new enterprize.
Go to your local farmers markets and you will find craftmen and women in abundance. Bee keepers, cheesemakers, bakers, gardeners and a complete spectrum of quality. With low numbers of skilled crafts workers there is great opportunity and small competition. People with a university education should be able to enter any vocation and make rapid progress in the skills. They should consider the cost of the food that they make as part of the cost of education with the side benefit that most of it can be eaten and thus reduce their food bill. Some will pay many thousands of dollars for a university education but the same person will be reluctant to spend a few hundred for the tools needed for a craft.

story28 · Post by **story28** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 14:42

Red, I think you misinterpret my words. Cooking as a professional is a long journey. I mean to say that everyone who makes that decision to become a professional, begins that journey as an amateur.

I have a degree from the Culinary Institute of America. My fiance' and one other employee do as well and I can vouch for that particular school and education they provide.

Post by **redzed** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 15:47

You are right, I took your words out of context. But in no way was my rant a personal one. I respect your efforts and extend nothing but goodwill to your vocation and business. If your shop was anywhere close to me I'd be there on a regular basis. Your knowledge and experience is himalayas above mine and I appreciate you hanging around here and helping us hobbyists.

Chris

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 17:58

I have been doing a brief on line search of university programs for meat production and processing. There are many and well spread across the continent.

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 19:29

Check out the USDA approved garage!

http://www.mywallingford.com/2011/07/26 ... -facility/

Now here is an amazing line from the story: "...he is visited every day by a USDA inspector."

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Oct 15, 2012 19:43

Those visits will become fewer in the future. Start-up milk producers encounter the same thing. When the inspectors finally believe that you are constantly careful and correct they will reduce their visits to random days each week.

The Small Shop In Today's Economy

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