How to Sell Salsa at Farmers Market

You've mastered your salsa recipe and your friends can't stop asking you to buy salsa. You've made it! 

It's time to take your salsa-making hobby and turn it into a business. Luckily, farmers markets are a great place to get your product in front of people who want to support local and eat fresh foods. Your salsa checks all of those boxes!

Before you start selling, though, you'll want to cover the bases to make sure that you're operating legally. Keep reading for more details.

Does Your State Have Cottage Food Laws?

One part of knowing how to sell salsa at farmers market is knowing the laws and regulations regarding homemade food in your state. Thankfully, the majority of states in the United States have cottage food laws, which means that you don't need a licensed kitchen to sell homemade food at a farmer's market.

In many states, you still cannot sell any items that require refrigeration, are pressure-canned, or any food that is acidified, such as pickles. You do have to properly label the homemade food as part of how to sell at a farmers market, though. You have to include a statement saying this item is home-produced, the volume or weight of the item, your address, your name, and the item's ingredients ordered by their weights.

What If Your State Requires a Licensed Kitchen?

In the event that your state does not have cottage food laws, then you will have to create your items in a licensed kitchen. The most common type of licensed kitchen is a commercial kitchen. A commercial kitchen meets all the proper food safety standards and it is inspected and licensed. There are almost no home kitchens that would be able to meet the various and rigorous food safety standards. Additionally, there are very few home kitchens that would be able to pass a food safety inspection, as well.

As a result, it is best not to even attempt to change your home kitchen into a kitchen capable of passing the inspection and meeting rigorous food safety standards such as the FDA guidelines for food safety. Doing so would prove extremely expensive and it is likely that you would not be able to accomplish this in the first place. Instead, you should try to see if you can rent a licensed kitchen when no one is using it. For example, you may be able to rent a kitchen in a restaurant during the morning if the restaurant only operates during the evening.

Create a Recipe For Your Salsa and Name It

Before you start selling at farmers market, you have to come up with a recipe for your salsa. You should try to include a few key ingredients that make your salsa stand out from the rest. It is also a good idea to check other types of salsa to see what ingredients they have in common. After you have created your recipe, you should name your salsa and make your label for it.

The name of your salsa is quite important, too. Ultimately, how your salsa tastes is the most important thing, but giving your salsa a catchy name is part of how to sell food at farmers market. You should do some market research before you name your salsa. That way, you can get a general idea of what sorts of names are common for salsa brands. However, this market research can also help you figure out what kind of name will stand out for your salsa.

Set Up Your Stall Well and Know the Costs

You also have to keep the farmers market stall cost in mind. Typically, one booth will cost you about $500 for each six-month season. Additionally, farmers market vendor fees will usually cost you between $30 and $100 a day.

You have to set up your stand well to get people to buy homemade salsa for sale. You should place your stand in a busy location where there are plenty if possible. This is the best way to succeed at selling salsa at farmers market. You should also ensure that your stand is clean and organized. An organized and clean stall is much more likely to attract customers.

Market Your Salsa Effectively

In order to succeed in selling fresh salsa, you have to market your product effectively. The easiest and most cost-effective method of doing so is to market your salsa on popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. If you have a particularly significant following on any of these platforms, you will likely want to concentrate your marketing efforts on that platform. You should include plenty of pictures of your salsa in your social media posts.

You should ensure that you post the best pictures of your salsa that you can. This is critical to selling your salsa and selling your sauces at a farmers market more generally. You might even want to include some pictures of your salsa on some common items people use it on, such as chips. That can help people visualize eating your salsa and enjoying it alongside food that they eat on a regular basis.