Production test runs at Nelson Farms Co-Packers

So, I was up in Cazenovia, NY yesterday at Nelson Farms- a co-packing facility where I had production test runs scheduled. It was a very long day. I headed out at 6:30AM and got back at 6 PM and cooked all day.

The day went well, the test runs went fine and there were no problems. I was nervous that Nelson Farms would have difficulty processing my gourmet Caribbean Jerk Sauces (the hot and mild marinades) because of the fresh thyme but they have a machine that can easily process that so hand chopping the thyme which is labor intensive is unnecessary- whew!

The Caribbean Hot Sauce is also straightforward and would not present any production challenges. The Portuguese Repolho Relish may present some challenges but not in terms of processing the ingredients actually. It turns out that cabbage is available pre-processed so that would not need to be hand chopped which would save a lot of time and the rest of the ingredients are pretty straightforward. Nah, it turns out that bottling this gourmet product may be a bit of a challenge because of the shape of the jar. If you're considering bottling a product, it is worth spending some time thinking about the size & shape of the jar. I recommend talking with a co-packer for input before settling on any particular shape or size. This will help eliminate any problem issues in the future.

Amanda, the Production Development Manager's experience really shone through. She made me feel very comfortable and was great about recommending ways to save time on the processing of certain ingredients which made me feel comfortable about Nelson Farms' expertise and knowledge. Now comes the hard part...waiting to receive the cost per jar quote from Sue Evans, the Associate Director at Nelson Farms. I expect to receive that sometime next week then I'll know if I can move on to the next level of growing Baron's International Kitchen or if I'm back to the drawing board.

More to follow...

Terry