Description

The Parchmans weren’t trying to start a cottage food business. Back in 2012, little did they know that their small garden of tomatoes and peppers had the seeds for so much potential!

Nathan & Nicole Parchman live in O’Fallon, IL and sell salsa, pickles, and sauces with their business, Nitro Family Foods.

After strong demand from family, friends, and (sometimes) complete strangers, they started selling “Nitro Salsa” at their local farmers market in 2019. And they haven’t looked back since!

Despite working fulltime jobs plus significant side jobs, as well as raising a family, the Parchmans somehow manage to find time to produce and sell over 200 jars of salsa and pickles each week!

In addition to the farmers market, they now also wholesale to stores and are in the process of building their own brick-and-mortar commercial kitchen and storefront.

In this episode, you will learn what makes this dynamic duo so successful!

What You’ll Learn

• How sampling their salsa at a yard sale kicked off their business
• Why most people say that their salsa is the best they’ve ever had
• Some of the hoops you may need to jump through to make your business legal
• Why there are so many regulations for canned food products
• How to cater to both men and women at your farmers market booth
• The importance of making your brand fun and memorable
• Why their sales skyrocketed during the pandemic
• How to move from a cottage food business to a commercial food business
• How they manage fulltime jobs, side jobs, a family, and a cottage food business all at once
• Why networking is critical to growing a business
• Why some of the biggest things in life may be sitting right in front of you
• How they are making over $1,000 of profit at each farmers market!
• The importance of communicating with customers at markets
• How to save tons of money on ingredients and equipment when you can buy in bulk
• How much it costs to convert a building into a commercial kitchen (hint: it’s not cheap!)

Resources

Nitro Salsa / Nitro Family Foods website (Facebook page)

Square (for taking and managing sales at a farmers market)

Cricut Machine (for creating branding & signage)

Fillmore Container (bulk canning supplies)

Cottage Food Law in Illinois

Get full show notes and transcript here: https://forrager.com/podcast/35