Question about selling Meat to restaurant?

Mrshaunyd

Mrshaunyd

Knows what a fatty is.
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I was approached by a local restaurant about possibly cooking meat the night before for them to sale the next day. I have never done anything like this before and was wondering how it works and or risk involved?

Also how do you charge?

Any tips or thoughts on this would be appreciated.
 
First off you need to contact your local Board of Health to see if this is even doable. Some places are very strict and would require you to have a "professional grade kitchen setup" plus all the certifications required to operate a kitchen. That right there will stop a lot of people due to the investment required. Then, if it's even doable for you then you need to protect yourself by forming a business of some sorts, it's up to you how you want to organize it, then make sure you're covered through insurance.
 
Zak said:
First off you need to contact your local Board of Health to see if this is even doable. Some places are very strict and would require you to have a "professional grade kitchen setup" plus all the certifications required to operate a kitchen. That right there will stop a lot of people due to the investment required. Then, if it's even doable for you then you need to protect yourself by forming a business of some sorts, it's up to you how you want to organize it, then make sure you're covered through insurance.
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That is the thing I would not be operating the kitchen, this is a fully licensed insured restaurant. They asked me about preparing say brisket over night for them to purchase from me for them to sale in their restaurant. All I would be doing is cooking it. I live next door to them.
 
poorolddan said:
This question seems to be asked about every couple of weeks. Do a search and you can find a lot of opinions.
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It keeps coming up as if I was starting a catering business or my own restaurant which is not the case I have no means whatsoever to go into the food business aside from it being a hobby lol.

I guess I am just trying to figure out if this would crossover any legal boundaries
 
Mrshaunyd said:
It keeps coming up as if I was starting a catering business or my own restaurant which is not the case I have no means whatsoever to go into the food business aside from it being a hobby lol.

I guess I am just trying to figure out if this would crossover any legal boundaries
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if you are cooking in their kitchen then there should not be an issue. the issue starts when you are using your kitchen and your cooker. i would contact the local health department. they can tell you what is legal and what is not. i know we sound like broken records and debbie downers but no matter how slim there is a chance you could get into trouble and lose everything you own. will it actually happen? 99.999%....no. it comes down to how comfortable you are with the whole situation.
 
Czarbecue said:
Just become an employee or contractor and use their facilities. That would get you covered if they are properly insured.
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Yeah that is what my wife mentioned to just be put on their payroll as a part time employee. I think I might honestly just pass on the whole thing though, as I said this is a hobby first, aside from backyard q and a few competitions I am content plus I do not know enough about the business end of it to feel to comfortable.
 
When you prepare food for resale you are encountering many legal boundaries.

I understand that you live next door and only want to cook meat to sell to them so that they can sell resale. This is where your problem is, in most States any food prepared for resale has to be done in a commercially licensed and inspected kitchen, period. You can't make a pie in your home and sell it at a farmers market. You can't make pickles and sell them, legally unless you are doing this in a licensed and inspected kitchen. You are entering the same territory.

I understand that they are a licensed and inspected facility. You could go to work for them, in their facility and prepare food for them to sell and be perfectly legal, however just remember that your smoker must meet the criteria to be a commercial smoker which there are few that do.

Just to close the other side of this coin is that they are opening themselves up to legal issues as well because they must purchase food for resale from licensed and inspected facilities for resale and must be able to prove it's origin. If they had a customer eat your brisket and file a complaint of becoming ill they would be held responsible, which in turn they must provide their source for the suspect food which would red flag them and implicate you as well.

Unfortunately for those of us that would enjoy doing this legalities prevent it, but fortunately for consumers food safety is of great concern to the health departments, both local and Federal.
 
Worries me about the place that asked you to do it.......in theory THEY should know better and to ask similar questions like folks are here. Vs just being all "Yolo!!" and just asking the guy living next door that can cook banging bbq :becky: to sell him a brisket or two.
 
Just cook and deliver with these on and you won't get caught.

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US food law isn't very strict by many standards. Paranoia about problems unseen for decades can also be an issue. This all varies from state to state and county to county. The law really isn't ever an issue with things like this in most cases until someone gets sick or a lawyer or news reporter gets involved.

Is the small amount of money you would make worth the risk? Now factor in the value of your time, the cost of forming an LLC to protect your other assets (home, car, bank accounts, etc.), insurance (or risk losing all LLC assets), etc.? Does your smoker or spice blend have any allergens in it? Who covers the medical bills or are you insured?

As a beekeeper, this is an issue as well. Worker bees generally fly a 2 mile radius to collect nectar and pollen. Will any of that have an allergen in it? How about someone failing a drug test from using my honey (yep, a friends honey tested positive for marijuana)? Now, what are the local laws regarding hobbyist beekeeper sales?

What, you want 'fresh' milk? Unpasteurized cheese and other dairy products? And, you don't want to milk your own 'personal' cow? The local dairy can't take milk for sale off its property unless it is pasteurized. However, I can go there and buy some myself and self-transport it home legally.

The same goes with pasteurized and unpasteurized beer. Where do you live? Where was it bottled? Was it a 'gift' to someone or did they buy it? Etc.

Unless the financial reward is meaningful to you and worth the investment in time and money, stick to your personal cooks.
 
Mrshaunyd said:
It keeps coming up as if I was starting a catering business or my own restaurant which is not the case I have no means whatsoever to go into the food business aside from it being a hobby lol.

I guess I am just trying to figure out if this would crossover any legal boundaries
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Umm... your original post is you asking about going into the food business by selling a cooked protein to a restaurant. haha People in here are being cautious but they're trying to prevent you from getting yourself into something where you might end up getting into some serious trouble with the city.

I don't know about up in Michigan but out here in NC unless you're using their equipment, on their property, then you're basically considered an independent caterer and would need all of those permits. I can't imagine a legitimate restaurant would accept a cooked protein from a non-permitted vendor / caterer. If they would I'd run far away from that restaurant and never eat there again.

Good luck man but if they're considering doing some kind of "under the table" deal with you that's a massive red flag.
 
SmoothBoarBBQ said:
Umm... your original post is you asking about going into the food business by selling a cooked protein to a restaurant. haha People in here are being cautious but they're trying to prevent you from getting yourself into something where you might end up getting into some serious trouble with the city.

I don't know about up in Michigan but out here in NC unless you're using their equipment, on their property, then you're basically considered an independent caterer and would need all of those permits. I can't imagine a legitimate restaurant would accept a cooked protein from a non-permitted vendor / caterer. If they would I'd run far away from that restaurant and never eat there again.

Good luck man but if they're considering doing some kind of "under the table" deal with you that's a massive red flag.
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Yeah i have already turned it down, LOL I will stick with what i know thanks all.
 
You turned it down...so I don't mind talking now.

If you like the folks next door and want to carry on with your current relationship, DO NOT go to the health department and explain the situation thinking you're just doing your own due diligence. What would happen is they would gladly help you and send you on your merry way. THEN they will quickly get in touch with your restaurant neighbor and ask them why they are trying to get joe blow down the street to cook them food in his back yard! While they will not get into any trouble (no food or money actually changed hands), they would have most likely gotten very upset with you for "reporting" them to the health department. Trust me, I know how the minds of restaurant folks works! It's a good thing you declined & saved your relationship.

So...with that said. Does Michigan have an outdoor grill regulation for restaurants? Some states allow cooking outside in the open air. If they do, then theoretically the restaurant could "rent" your pit & hire you to run it. That would be VERY easy, and VERY legal.
 
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