Selling Homemade Cheeses

[dr chedder]

 hi all first time on a cheese board so bear with me


a few questions i have.

ive been making cheese for some years now chedder mainly but made a few others. iv'e been wanting to have my own little business for some time now just for some extra income i work full time so i dont need to make huge amount just alittle and also as a little hobbie.

i currenly have a food and hygiene cert level 2 from when i used to be a chef. is that good enough? to allow me to make and sell my cheese to the public? i understand that i also need some kind of dairy cert or at least be registered as a dairy producer? if this is the case i guess they would have to come round to where my cheese is made...... this is my house would there be any problem there is it possible to get a house registered to make dairy products?

if all went well and i ended up with cheese witch was ready to be sold where are the best places to sell them of course there is farmers markets but who else? i was thinking maybe village shops in my local pub? do any of you have anymore ideas on where?

ive got a few special cheese ideas
i am thinking about so that could be a selling point


finally if anyone has  any ideas tips or hints that would be cool

thank you all

dc

[mtncheesemaker]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I think your first step might be to check out local regulations governing food processing and sales to the public. There are probably rules, depending on where you live, about the milk source, pasteurization or cheese aging and the facility where the cheese is made and stored.
Good luck,
Pam

[iratherfly]

Depends on your state, you will need to check who is in charge of this (Department of agriculture, food and drugs, public health, etc.) Meeting local regulations in most states will enable you to sell across state lines but not to export.
You will most likely need to obtain dairy processing plant license or permit, or conduct your cheesemaking in one that is already licensed. I am going through this process myself now and beginning to seek a facility to do small batches in because I am only testing the market and I am not going to go through the expense of building a plant...

A good place to start selling would be your farmer's market or in a local restaurant that want the opportunity to get unique cheese for their cheese course. Many chefs and restaurateurs see a great opportunity in serving customers cheese that they can't get elsewhere. It's even better if they know the cheesemaker and can tune up the cheese to match with their other dishes, wine or confitures.  You want to start in low volume environment that gives you lots of valuable feedback to build on and perfect your offering before taking it to the next level with high volume orders from cheese shops Etc. You can also sell online; many farmstead cheesemakers do.