juicing business 'help needed'

[tm11]

Hi All

For a while now i have been thinking over the idea of starting a juicing business.
As of my age and inexperience i can not afford to start a shop or buy one of the many franchise's available in the juicing business.
So i thought of setting it up as a delivery service to local business's.
The main questions i have at the moment are
Would the drinks have to be made in a purpose built kithchen, or would i be able to make at home?
Also what are the rules on transporting drinks, would i need a refrigerated van?
What insurances would i need to sell drinks to the public?

cheers for any advice

Tom

[Tango2]

Smoothies split after around 4 hours of being 'whizzed' - if that's what you mean by 'juices'. If you mean proper fresh juices, then I think you'll be struggling to find a niche in the market - there's so many cheap and available products out there, it's not worth the effort! And you'll need refrigeration, liability insurance...need I continue??

Sorry - but it's just not worth your while unless you can buy a franchise of some sort.

[jamesuk28]

YEP listen to tango. Forget it unless you want a lot of heartache and a CCJ.

[M400 NBL]

Do you have experience of making your own juices. In other words, do you know how many oranges it will take to make a small bottle of juice. You can buy very cheap fruit at fruit and veg wholesalers so I wouldn't discount it all together.

Did you see "risking it all" (I think it was that) a month or so ago. A juice company made a fortune an after leasing out a shop. You should search other forums for advie. If you do manage to get yourself established, why not make sandwiches and rolls. That's probably more profitable. Good luck

[rpguk]

Don't see any reason you couldn't make them from home, but I'd imagine you'd need to register with your local environmental health department who'd want to do an inspection to make sure your premises were suitable.

[mxdi]

I heard from somewhere that you need to have a separate kicthen with separate utensils if made at home, no pets allowed on the premises either.

Catering is not a good business to get into on your own, too much liability for not a lot of profit.
I have run catering units for nearly 10 years now, its very difficult to make profit without charging the earth.

[mxdi]

Not deliberatley trying to be negative, but if we were to have a 'juice man' come around to place of work, he doesnt really offer a lot does he? just juice.
I would be looking for someone to come round so I can have my sandwich, crisps, cake and juice all in one.
I really couldnt be arsed to order my food from different people.
Thats from a customer point of view.

Also juices discolour very fast, need to drink them within a few hours of being made.

[steviebee]

Our office is in the middle of an industrial area and I've lost count of the number of Sandwich Delivery companies / vans that have come and gone over the years. The only one that's stuck is a "Benjy's" van that's actually pretty good but the guy who runs it is always on about the amount of work for the smalleness of return.

[qwertyford]

tm11 said:

Hi All

For a while now i have been thinking over the idea of starting a juicing business.
As of my age and inexperience i can not afford to start a shop or buy one of the many franchise's available in the juicing business.
So i thought of setting it up as a delivery service to local business's.
The main questions i have at the moment are
Would the drinks have to be made in a purpose built kithchen, or would i be able to make at home?
Also what are the rules on transporting drinks, would i need a refrigerated van?
What insurances would i need to sell drinks to the public?

cheers for any advice

Tom

You can register your kitchen at home as your business premises but as it is food you will be producing, you will need the premises checked over by health officers 28 days before you start trading. As far as transporting drinks go, the drinks will of course be much more appealing when they are ice cold. However, I'm sure you can legally go for about 4 hours or something like that without food needing refrigeration. This is what I read somewhere though.

However, just look at the amount of competition and the number of people who actually do this for a living. Is it worth your time, effort and your investment. Why not find something else, food orientated, which you can make in your kitchen.

[qwertyford]

[redacted]

[V8 EOL]

M400 NBL said:

Did you see "risking it all"? A juice company made a fortune an after leasing out a shop

Not sure it was quite a fortune... But they eventually turned a profit. Seemed like a lot of work to me. I think they were more in it for the lifestyle rather than making money. Who opens a shop at 10 after the morning rush? Not me that’s for sure.

The big question I have is about its 'fadness'. How long will it be before people have had enough of over priced Juices and go back to coffee and a roll? Saying that I thought the same about bottled water and coffee bars!

steviebee said:

The only one that's stuck is a "Benjy's" van that's actually pretty good but the guy who runs it is always on about the amount of work for the smallness of return.

Benjy's has just started turning up in our office. She (lovely Scottish lady) turns up 10 minutes before the other van we have and as a result has completely wiped the guy out. This too is probably a crowded competitive market with small returns.

The question you need to ask is how can you make yourself unique? Ok you deliver, but so do plenty of others. Why should I choose you over someone else?

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Jaeger]

Not worth it unless you buy a franchise?

Doh, how's that?

With a franchise your margins raped by the franchisor before you get the chance to make profit, your supplies are fixed no negotiations there.

If it's a good idea, if you buy a franchise, it must be a better one if you're not paying franchisor fees and initial franchise fees.

I'm not suggesting you should do what you are planning but more that you should read into the 'advise' be proffered.

I'd suggest more research into your market, what juices sell, for how much, how many juices are sold into the market you intend to target, where and who are your market, could you perhaps 'leech' onto the sandwich people who already do the leg work, go speak to them start out by asking about their business they will tell you, then ask if they could sell juices, could you supply them, better have someone else doing the leg work after all they already do it, you supply in bulk, less margin but greater turnover lower overheads etc.

Long and poorly punctuated, if you want it tidier, I'll send a bill.

[jamesuk28]

How about targeting schools? With the latest move toward healthier kids it may be possible. You will need a CRB check I would guess if you are working with kids. The teachers will probably be very supportive as your product is healthy. You could also do a nice sideline in fags .