Many food entrepreneurs develop their first product in a home kitchen or small test environment. While this is a great way to validate an idea, moving from a bench-top recipe to commercial production can introduce challenges that are often overlooked.
Here are five things founders should consider early in the process:
1. Your recipe must work with real equipment
A recipe that works in a blender or small mixer may behave very differently in commercial equipment. Shear, mixing time, and temperature control can all impact texture and consistency.
2. Ingredients may change when you scale
Suppliers used in small quantities may not be viable at commercial volumes. Differences in ingredient specifications (moisture, particle size, fat content) can affect your final product.
3. Shelf life needs to be validated
Many startups assume a shelf life based on similar products or small real-time experiments at home from a single batch. Proper shelf-life testing and microbial validation are essential to ensure safety and quality.
4. Label compliance matters early
Nutrition facts tables, allergen declarations, and ingredient lists must follow Canadian regulatory requirements. Addressing this early avoids costly redesigns later.
5. Production efficiency matters more than creativity
At scale, the question is no longer “Does this taste good?” but “Can this be produced consistently, safely, and profitably?”
Author: Karen Cardona, Founder & Owner of True Leaves Consulting, is an expert in launching innovative products in retail & foodservice from concept to plant scale-up. Over 11 years of experience in product development, quality assurance, and operations management. Some of the brands she has worked with Kraft Heinz, Nuts for Cheese, Nestlé, Subway, Starbucks and McDonald’s.