How do I correctly bottle my new food product? It's a startup venture. I am bottling a type of syrup into 8oz bottles.

If you have no team or your team is lacking what they have it could be a great reason to reach out to them. On the other hand, if you have or can build the right team there is little to gain from partnering with starups like this. Remember that it takes a team to build a successful business and they are not the first or second to try this. My caution would be to make sure you have someone with food safety/regulation experience on your team. This business model has safety concerns which must be addressed to make it viable. Having started, worked with and consulted for food startups, as large as $1B, I can assure you there is a significant public health risk associated with this business model. Sorry to be the voice of reason here, but it is better to hear it from me than someone who is suing you due to a case of food poisoning or worse. As the purveyor of food - or even if acting as a conduit - you have an obligation to consider the public's health and safety. There is an assumption that the product will be safe, just as you assume your Uber will not be a 1971 Ford Pinto with bald tires and an unlicensed driver. Disrupting an industry by challenging the regulations is a great way to go, think Uber or airbnb. Even with the disruption you must still be able to service the customers in a safe way. The FDA states that there are "about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually...these illnesses result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths." Food industry regulations, both local and federal, have evolved as a necessity. If you would like to talk through options which begin to address the safety concerns I would be more than happy to talk with you.

The online food delivery industry is at its growth stage, especially after lockdown. There is a surge in demand due to the COVID-19 outbreak as the customers were unable to visit their favorite restaurants and opted for ordering food online. As a precaution, even the restaurants have reduced the sitting capacity in the restaurants, which is one big reason for the increase in online orders. Apps like Uber Eats, GrubHub, Deliveroo are high in demand with an increasing number of downloads each day. This is because consumer behavior has changed, people now feel it safe and more convenient to order food online during the pandemic to avoid crowded places. Even the restaurants that earlier did not have the online services available have started investing to digitize their food ordering and delivery system. However, the entrepreneurs demand platforms similar to top players like Uber Eats. Here is a blog that has explained in detail “How to build an app like Uber Eats”: https://www.fatbit.com/fab/how-to-build-an-app-like-ubereats/ To build an online food ordering and delivery platform you can either opt for a ready-made solution that is a cost-efficient investment or build the website/app from scratch. Food Delivery Solution like YoYumm is suggested based on the features they offer to their customers and the after-sales services provided by the Yoyumm team to build an app like Deliveroo and Just Eat. For more information, you may visit: https://www.fatbit.com/online-food-ordering-software.html For entrepreneurs who are planning to invest or start their online food ordering and delivery business, this is the right time as the demand in the market is high for food delivery services. On the other hand, if we talk about the offline food business, they too are finding their way back. Offline food joints and restaurants have resumed their services after lockdown with more safety and sanitization precautions for both their customers as well as staff. Although the footfall is comparatively less still the business owners are looking for a better solution to cope up with the new norms and change in customer behavior. Take Away The online food delivery marketplace provides customers with the choice & convenience of getting food delivered at their doorsteps with a few taps on their mobile phones. To deal with the change in norm due to the pandemic online service for food ordering and delivery is in demand and entrepreneurs/restaurant owners should pay attention to online food delivery services. You can either create your own platform to receive the order and deliver food or register your restaurant/food joint on platforms such as Uber Eats, Just Eats, and Deliveroo to make the best use of the new digital opportunities. Suggested read: Looking To Start an Online Food Delivery Platform? Take a Look at These Key Features (https://www.fatbit.com/fab/depth-feature-analysis-create-successful-online-food-delivery-platform/ )

COSTCO AFFLUENCE: You might be surprised to know that 54% of CostCo's Wholesale Club (CWC) members are considered wealthy, or "affluent", with only 15% just "getting by" or "poor". BUSINESS VS CONSUMER: Approximately 24% businesses, 76% individual consumers. Even though business customers drive about 60% of CostCo's revenue, about half of that is for home use, so it's about 30% business revenue and 70% individual consumer revenue. HOUSEHOLD: 35% of CWC members have 2 person households. 56% have three or more in their home. I have a ton of paid tools at my disposal for market research. For much more detail on other demographic data for CWC, along with info from BJs and other wholesale clubs, set up a call with me on Clarity.

Hello. I hope you are doing well! Are you trying to get your products into the EU through Croatia? Are you producing anything or only trading? Based on the information you provided, I would try contacting the local authorities or customs, you will have different fares depending on the direction of the shipment. Hope my answer was helpful, kind regards, Ignacio.

Shipping components are expensive and unless you have the volume to buy in quantity vs small bundles is when you'll be able to shop around for a better deal. For example, Uline offers packaging in bundles of 8 or 25 as their minimum, this is stock item for which they order several thousands units of to keep the cost down. For you it fits because you can buy in small amounts at a time. However, if you have a need for 1000 at least or more units then buying from Uline is really expensive compared to what you could buy them for. Uline is a major distributor with a 45-50% markup on their items (give or take) as they have large warehousing and infrastructures. If you are ready to move to the next level, first find the correct material name for each packaging component, and look for suppliers of that particular item. Search websites likehttp://www.thomasnet.com/ for suppliers. Or go through a packaging broker instead of a distributor, like Landsberg Orora, or Ernest Packaging, and they can do all the leg work for you and still save money. Additionally, I know your drawing is not to scale, but there seems to be excess empty air space, if that is true then you can customize your packaging per exactly your needs, which will help to further bring the cost down. An engineer should take a look at your current situation because there is more at play than just shipping components - method of shipping, weight, weather condition, materials thickness etc all play a roll and can all contribute to cost saving while making the whole thing function better. This question is common enough that I've written tutorials on it http://howtobuypackaging.com/how-to-buy-packaging-part-1-determining-your-packaging-needs/.