Jam Sales?

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Has anyone ever tried selling their homemade jams? What do you sell them for? I was thinking of selling them either in 250ml jars (about 8oz) or 500ml jars (about 16oz). Has it worked for you? How much do you charge?
 
I don't know about the regulations in Canada, but where I am it's a huge pain. An innkeeper friend of mine decided to make blueberry jam & syrup from their blueberry farm. The hoops she had to go through were horrible. She had to have laboratory tests done to make sure the sugar ratio was adequate, go through state agencies for the labeling, etc. She also had to purchase insurance to cover it in case someone who consumed the product did not get sick from botulism, etc. Not worth it!
 
I don't know about the regulations in Canada, but where I am it's a huge pain. An innkeeper friend of mine decided to make blueberry jam & syrup from their blueberry farm. The hoops she had to go through were horrible. She had to have laboratory tests done to make sure the sugar ratio was adequate, go through state agencies for the labeling, etc. She also had to purchase insurance to cover it in case someone who consumed the product did not get sick from botulism, etc. Not worth it!.
Around here you also have to be licensed and have a commercial kitchen or at least use rented space in a commercial kitchen.
If Eric's gone thru all the hoops, tho, my guess is that the 250ml jars could sell for $6. Whether that is worth it or not, I don't know. I wouldn't try selling 500ml jars at first. I'd think about ease of transport.
 
The hoops can get pretty hard at times, I am just now starting those hoops for the farm portion of the farm stay. But since I will have eventually dairy production the leap to jam or what they call value added acidified or non-acidified produce, won't be that hard. None the less lots of hoops. The Mennonites around here (with and without regulation) sell the small 250ml (8 oz) jars for anything from $5-$7.
 
Arkansas has a new "cottage industry" law that lets you sell things like jelly and candy you make at your home, as long as you sell them out of your home. For some reason, store owners can't make stuff at home and sell it at their downtown store, which doesn't seem any different to me, but at least the law is a move in the right direction, as long as cottage industry owners are concerned.
 
I believe here you have to have a licencse and inspection by dept of agric. In order to sell food products. I think the only exceptions must be fairs and such because they do have bake sales. But come to think of it..it is only baked goods nothing canned.
 
last year i took a course and became a licensed food safety manager in massachusetts. the reason that baked goods prepared at home are allowed for sale is the potential for foodborne illness is low ... they don't require refrigeration to be safe to eat. cupcakes, cakes, cookies, breads ... all fall into this category. (without dairy fillings like pudding and cream) so 'baked goods' are not considered to be a potentially hazardous food. they don't have to be held at below 41 degrees F or above 135 degrees F to be safe to eat.
when you start talking about jam and jellies, my concern would be your canning process to be sure you're not allowing bacteria to grow in the jars. i remember the health inspector where i had the b&b in maine warned me against buying homemade jam from someone unlicensed.
a nice grandma i know made everyone in the family sick when she gave them all her homemade jam. she'd made it for years with no problems but i suppose her skills had failed somewhat as she got older.
 
last year i took a course and became a licensed food safety manager in massachusetts. the reason that baked goods prepared at home are allowed for sale is the potential for foodborne illness is low ... they don't require refrigeration to be safe to eat. cupcakes, cakes, cookies, breads ... all fall into this category. (without dairy fillings like pudding and cream) so 'baked goods' are not considered to be a potentially hazardous food. they don't have to be held at below 41 degrees F or above 135 degrees F to be safe to eat.
when you start talking about jam and jellies, my concern would be your canning process to be sure you're not allowing bacteria to grow in the jars. i remember the health inspector where i had the b&b in maine warned me against buying homemade jam from someone unlicensed.
a nice grandma i know made everyone in the family sick when she gave them all her homemade jam. she'd made it for years with no problems but i suppose her skills had failed somewhat as she got older..
seashanty said:
a nice grandma i know made everyone in the family sick when she gave them all her homemade jam. she'd made it for years with no problems but i suppose her skills had failed somewhat as she got older.
Even huge international chains have had occasional problems with, for instance, undercooked meats containg e. coli. Stuff happens sometimes, even in the best operations.
Regarding selling jelly out of the home, our local health inspector had some explanation about how it's NOW okay in our state. Something about it being like neighbor offering it to neighbor or something. I didn't really get her point. I know the new state law allowing this is eating at her inside, because what was always a no-no, with a wave of the legislature's wand, suddenly became legal.
 
Eric,
check with your local health department to see what the rules are.
Maggy
 
last year i took a course and became a licensed food safety manager in massachusetts. the reason that baked goods prepared at home are allowed for sale is the potential for foodborne illness is low ... they don't require refrigeration to be safe to eat. cupcakes, cakes, cookies, breads ... all fall into this category. (without dairy fillings like pudding and cream) so 'baked goods' are not considered to be a potentially hazardous food. they don't have to be held at below 41 degrees F or above 135 degrees F to be safe to eat.
when you start talking about jam and jellies, my concern would be your canning process to be sure you're not allowing bacteria to grow in the jars. i remember the health inspector where i had the b&b in maine warned me against buying homemade jam from someone unlicensed.
a nice grandma i know made everyone in the family sick when she gave them all her homemade jam. she'd made it for years with no problems but i suppose her skills had failed somewhat as she got older..
We are required to take and pass the food safety course to be able to serve breakfast. I'll check with other departments, but since it is home sales, it's likely considered the same as bake sale.
 
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