After watching Julie Julia again for the 3rd time, I finally realized the purpose for my blog.
I want to share with my readers some of my insights on what it has taken me to kick start my dream and passion in my mid 50's of going back into the cookie business, 27 years after opening my first store Blue Chip Cookies in 1983. And at the same time I authored and launched my first book "From Cover Girl to Cookie Queen." Some days I'm wearing a hair net at the mixing bowl and other days a tiara at the podium. Many days it's both!
Today, I delivered my first order of Lori's Legendary frozen dough to a unique store in my home town of Danville called Danville Chocolates. To create frozen cookie dough for the public was something I have wanted to do for 25 years....it is just a baby step, but it's my first step.
What most of us, including me never realized is how many obstacles and hurdles you have to jump just to take your first step.
First, there was the commercial kitchen I needed to rent to create my dough..because no matter perfect, updated or clean your home kitchen is, you can never use it to create a product you sell to the public. Even the dingiest commerical kitchen somehow qualifies. After inspecting many kitchens out there I found a good, clean and well organized commmerical kitchen to rent per hour as I created my gourmet cookie dough. When that clock is ticking it's amazing how fast you learn to mix and scoop cookie dough!
Now with my commercial address, I was able to apply for my food processing liscense which helped bail out our state for just $348 per year or per kitchen. So with every change of commerical address, I hand the state another $348. No worries though, because my goal is to turn over this part of my business to a copacker sometime in 2011....of course there go some of my profits, but I'm willing to relinquish control and lose the hair net...believe me, it's not a pretty site. Besides the hand scooping is giving me calluouses!
Oh, another thing you need to remember is your business liscense, your resale liscense and of course the fictious name you must file with the state.(cha ching cha ching.) Loris' Legendary is doing it's part to save California with all the fees I have been paying. And don't forget your liablility insurance, incorporting expenses and the confidentiality agreement you need your commerical kitchen to sign before you start delivering all your top secret ingredients to his kitchen. And by the way, write those checks from the separate bank accounts and credit cards you've opened if you are going to declare your expenses to our favorite IRS tax man.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I just cant wait to share with you the fun part.. the packaging.
My round logo labels came in square..they forgot to cut them...so we cut each one out for weeks until our next shipment arrived. Next came the freezer box that I finally found in small quanties.(only 250 per order) It's was affordable and plain white, but by the time I added the ribbon, the ingredient sticker and the logo and the labor to do so, I probably should have had them printed. Only problem with printing is everytime you change anything about your product, size, weight or ingredients, your box or packaging becomes obsolete.
Just when I thought I was ready to start marketing and delivering my uniquely packaged frozen dough I learned I needed to have my dough tested by a microbiologist for shelf life. I found a very reputable one in my area.
We scheduled a test date and time to meet. He told me to package the dough up as it would be sold in my packaging for resale and to keep it frozen as I drove it over to his labratory. So I carefully boxed my four varieties of frozen dough into separate boxes and placed ice packs below them and on top.
This microbiologist took his job very seriously and insisted I call him the minute I arrived into the parking lot and he would meet at the double doors. He met me in at the door and we rolled my igloo on wheels into his test lab. The way he began examining my packaging and some of my cookie dough you would have thought I was carrying a live transplant organ the way he treated my igloo of frozen packaged dough) It was really quite hilairious. The only thing that was not so funny was the hundreds of dollars spent on the test.
The good news is the results from all the testing is my cookie dough was safe to eat.... Wow, that's a relief since everyone in my family and all my close friends have been eating it raw, underbaked and overbaked for the last 6 months!
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