If you’re reading this, chances are, your food processing business is going well. Too well, in fact, that you’ll need to increase the production to meet the demand for your products. As such, we’ll be taking a look at things you’d want to consider when you’re scaling up your food processing business:
Adjust Your Formula
When you’re scaling up your production, it’s important that you keep the formula as much as possible and simply adjust your formula or recipe to a larger scale. However, your ingredients may not scale properly and some parts of the production or ingredients have to be modified. Stabilizers may need to be added, and some ingredients may need to be substituted, and standard cooking time or temperatures may also need to be adjusted as well. Remember that your goal is to give the same quality product and produce it in a bigger quantity, so be patient. If you can improve your product as you scale up production, that would be quite beneficial, but you should first strive to keep the same taste, color, texture, and consistency that your customers have grown to love.
Sourcing
As your food production quota increases, so will the need for your raw materials. So before you invest in a full-fledged food factory, it’s important that you have the constant supply of raw material and ingredients that you need. So make sure that the supplier you currently have can provide the required amount for your increased production. If not, it’s best to find other suppliers to augment your food production’s requirements.
Location and Facility
It’s entirely possible that your current facility won’t be able to handle the additional equipment and workforce you need for scaling up your production. So it would be best to consider finding (or constructing) the right building to accommodate your new and improved production. Your current facility can be vacated, converted into an office space (which you’ll also need for your increased business operations), or can be preserved as some “museum” showcasing the original way your business used to process your food products.
Packaging and Storage
You have the option to keep the classic packaging of your product or improve and optimize it for mass production and packaging. What’s important is that you also factor in the need for more packaging materials for your increased production. Storage (such as large refrigerators or shelving units, depending on the product) should also be considered to avoid damage (and spoilage) to your product and its packaging.
Get Professional Help
When scaling up your production requires automation and other machines such as piston fillers for bottling, and vats and pipes for processing the food and/or beverage, it’s best to leave it to experts. You can hire a food technologist, engineer, or an expert in the field of food processing to help you out in determining the proper processes, tools, equipment, and recipe changes needed when scaling up your food processing operations. Professionals would minimize any trial-and-error needed when scaling up your formula as well. It’s important to have them sign a non-disclosure agreement or a privacy agreement to protect trade secrets such as the recipe and ratio of ingredients.
Conclusion
Scaling up your food processing business may be difficult, but with these pointers in mind, it could be easier. The bottom line is that you’d be able to provide the same product that your consumers love (and maybe even improve upon it), but in larger quantities through cost-effective means.
