8 Tips for Selling Canned Foods

Do you make, say, the absolute best chili in the world? If you do, you might want to think about trying to sell it.

More than 125 million Americans buy canned chili every year. Why not figure out how to stuff your chili inside cans so that you can get a food business off the ground?

Chili is just one of the many canned foods you might be able to turn a profit on. Americans spend millions of dollars on canned goods each year, and you may be able to get a cut of this by coming up with an excellent product that you can put in cans.

Are you intrigued by this idea? Check out eight tips for selling canned foods below.

1. Come Up With a Canned Food to Sell

Before you begin producing and selling canned foods, you’ll obviously need to decide which food you want to can. This will be the most important part of this entire process.

If your canned foods don’t taste good, people aren’t going to buy them. So you should perfect the recipe you’d like to use for the food you’re going to be canning from the start.

2. Be Sure Canning Food Is the Best Option

You won’t be able to just can whatever kind of food you want. There are certain types of foods that will work better in cans than others.

The aforementioned chili might be one good option for those interested in creating canned foods. But you can also can all kinds of fruits and vegetables and other products made using them.

Whatever the case, you’ll want to make sure that canning the kind of food you’re going to be making will be your best option. This won’t always be the case with certain types of foods.

3. Begin by Canning Small Batches

When you’re first exploring the idea of creating canned foods, you may be tempted to dive headfirst into the packaging industry. But you should take your time to get the best results.

Begin by creating relatively small batches of canned foods. You should be able to can them yourself, at first, rather than relying on a canning company to do it.

You’ll want to prove there’s a market for your canned foods before you do anything else. It’ll give you the confidence you’ll need to start manufacturing larger quantities of canned goods.

4. Design the Right Packaging for Cans

The foods that you stick inside cans might taste absolutely delicious. But people might not even think to try them if you don’t put the right packaging on the outside of your cans.

It would be worth working with a graphic designer to come up with eye-catching designs for your canned foods. They should help explain what’s inside your cans while also standing out in the crowd.

5. Look for a Reputable Canning Company

You’ll be able to get away with canning your own foods at first when you’re trying to launch a food business. But you won’t be able to continue to do this for very long if you’re making a lot of sales.

You’ll need to search for a canning company that can help you create the canned foods you’ll be selling. There are more than a few options working within the metal packaging industry these days.

Your goal will be to locate a canning company you trust to create the best canned goods possible for your food business.

6. Aim to Maintain Quality

As your food business begins to scale up, it’ll be easy for you to lose track of quality control. This could result in your canned foods not tasting as good as they did when you were only producing small batches.

Get into the habit of taste-testing your canned foods to make sure people are going to love them. If you sense the quality of your canned food might be slipping, you’ll know it’s time to scale back your operation a little so that you can regain control of it.

7. Search for Places to Sell Canned Foods

Your ultimate goal is going to be to sell as many canned foods as you can. At first, that might mean setting up a table at a farmer’s market where you can try to convince people to give your canned goods a try.

From there, you’ll want to look to expand by possibly getting your canned foods into grocery stores and other places that sell canned goods. Don’t be afraid to reach out to any local businesses you believe might be interested in selling your products.

8. Create More Canned Goods

As long as everything goes according to plan, you should be able to sell lots and lots of canned foods. At that point, you should give thought to expanding your lineup of canned goods as often as you can.

Think about some of the other canned foods your food company might want to sell. There are sure to be at least a few that you can add to the mix.

The more canned foods your food business sells, the more profits you’ll be able to bring in. You’ll also be able to spread the word about your business and attract more attention to your products.

Selling Canned Foods Can Be Very Profitable

The sales of canned foods spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people filled their homes with canned goods that will last a long time.

It doesn’t appear as though this trend is going to end anytime soon. It’s why now would be a great time to start a food business that specializes in selling canned foods. Use the tips listed here to get your food business moving in the right direction.

Take a look at some of the other articles published on our blog to get additional tips on starting a business.