Need Help Finding a Small Batch Co-Packer For Hot Sauce

[58limited]

Not sure if this is the right place for this post but here goes:

I am looking for recommendations for a small batch co-packer for hot sauce - 10 gallons or so to start. I want to use my own recipe and it is naturally fermented, not cooked. If anyone has recommendations please post the company and their website here. I would prefer a Texas company but not a deal breaker. Thanks!

I plan on doing one more test batch - three gallons - to see if the recipe reproduces well.

My first batch, one gallon. I know the hot sauce market is saturated so I don't have dreams of national distribution, just local. I gave away most of this batch and the people I gave it to shared some with friends. Now I have a lot of people around here and from as far away as D/FW messaging me and wanting to buy some. I mostly plan on local distribution through local businesses.

[RonB]

I hope it works out for you.

[Draznnl]

I've no help. Just best wishes that this is a rousing success.

[STEbbq]

A older thread with perhaps some useful information.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/bbq-sauce-recipes/908581-anyone-here-bottle-and-sell-their-own-bbq-sauce-looking-for-advice

[58limited]

Thanks, I've read that thread and, like many suggested, I want to use an FDA certified co-packer mainly for liability reasons. Plus, they can do the nutrition info on the label. I will also set up an LLC as an additional liability shield to protect personal assets.

[SheilaAnn]

I used to run shared kitchens for years! And I still am closely connected. This small of a batch, I would just do it yourself. I know of a few co-packers here in my neck of the woods. But, I wonder if the cost of using a co-packer would slice so much into margins, it won’t be worth it. Not sure if your county’s health department rules, though. What county are you in?

58limited let me know if you need any assistance 🙌🏼🙌🏼

[58limited]

I know local people with commercial kitchens and I could probably work out a deal to use theirs but I would still need to buy some equipment that they don't have.

[SheilaAnn]

58limited not knowing your HD rules…. Using someone else’s kitchen will not absolve you from a lawsuit. You would still need your own inspection. I completely understand what you mean by wanting fda/usda facilities. It’s a fine line for a small biz food maker. I see it every day.

[Murdy]

Federal inspections let you ship in interstate commerce, but you could always do that later (I worked for a sausage producer that was state inspected, but switched to federal so they could subcontract and process snack sticks for another company that shipped interstate).
As for shielding liability, it couldn't hurt, but wouldn't necessarily carry the day either. For the record, if they put your hot sauce on bad pork sausage, the burden is on them to prove which one caused the problem.

[02ebz06]

Since you are already doing the bottling, why not get some software to make you own labels ?
Looks like word-of-mouth marketing is already working for you.

[SheilaAnn]

And there are nutritional info software programs out there….

[Panhead John]

58limited Hey, please save me a bottle to pick up next time I’m in town!

[58limited]

Panhead John I'm out until the next batch.

[ofelles]

Have you talked to Max Good He might be able to help some. I know he works on a much larger scale but he started somewhere.

[58limited]

Max and Meathead are the ones who recommended a small batch co-packer. They also gave me other advice including legal liabilities, etc.

[acorgihouse]

I just caught up, and I know nothing except what I've seen friends do. I would think SheilaAnn would know more than the rest of us. I have a good friend who runs a local produce co-op, she has expanded over the past ~4-5 years to local Amish farm cheeses, local fishermen fish and smoked fish dips/spreads, local bakeries. She has had to go through a wealth of hurdles with regard to "certified kitchens" production, etc. I know it is often state and locally regulated. I also know someone, just an acquaintance really, who runs a goat farm/goat rescue. They do their own goat milk, kefir, yogurt, cheese, along with a number of other farm things. She has been asking me to introduce her to the co-op friend, b/c she wants to sell her cheeses and whatnot, but the co-op friend says she cannot even consider unless is a "certified kitchen." The net is that the goat farm is selling through their farm store, and local farmer's markets, but can't break in otherwise unless they go through the certification process (and I have no clue what that means.) In your case, with the smaller volume (for now, anyway), and given I have no idea about the local regs in your area, I wonder if you might not want to just do it yourself, hire someone to fill and label bottles if you don't want to, and do it through farmer's markets and such.

[Donw]

I remember several years ago helping a friend go through this but I can’t find the list of bottlers he contacted and the one he finally contracted with. Unfortunately he died so I can’t ask him. I’d just search for “small batch bottling companies” and start your research there. That’s what we did. I did find this site for co-packers in Texas that might help. https://www.pickyourown.org/copackers-Texas.php

[CaptainMike]

Wow, that's a heckuva list! I gotta think David can find someone there to help him.

[58limited]

Thanks, I found a list posted by Texas A&M the other day. I'll check out this list too. Plus I found a link to the national co-packers association and they can make referrals too.

[jfmorris]

Yeah - doubt anyone at a commercial level is going to be in for a small 10 gallon batch. And if you ferment it in containers/carboys/whatever and bring it to them, the burden is really on you anyway.

Here's some rules on cottage industry in Texas that probably apply to fermented hot sauce:

https://cottagefoodlaws.com/texas-cottage-food-laws#pickled_and_fermented_food_requirements

It MIGHT fall under Preserves, but I think only if it is cooked... so that would mean it has to have the required pH level among other things. And if not bottled in a heat canning process, I think you need to do it with sanitizing and sealing of the bottles with a shrink wrap on the neck to keep the caps on tight. Kinda like my home brewed beer, which if I bottle, goes into sanitized bottles that are capped with sanitized caps. And the alcohol also acts to prohibit microbial growth. With the hot sauce, the low acidity will be what inhibits bacteria.

[58limited]

Thanks. I talked with the county health department and they e-mailed the cottage laws and the food manufacturer's laws. Yep, got a complete home brewing set up including heat shrinker for wine bottle. Cottage means I can make it and sell myself locally at farmer's markets and such. I have to go the food manufacturer route if I want to place it in another business like my friend's brewery or sell across state lines.

[58limited]

I also have a bottle sanitizer if that is necessary: https://youtu.be/A9bWILkYt5Q?si=Zst8nlDmexky9sw7

[Bad Hat BBQ]

Interesting....hope this works out for you

Can Pit members buy some??

[58limited]

I can give it to you, I can't sell across state lines.

[58limited]

So, after reading the cottage regulations and the food manufacturer's regulations this afternoon I definitely learned some things. As a cottage producer I would not be subject to inspection but the sauce MUST be made in my kitchen, it cannot be made in a separate building such as the one I plan to build to move all of my meat processing and home brewing equipment into. Not a problem, the hot sauce is uncooked and any processing will occur on my 4' X 4' kitchen island which is easy to keep clean and is rather spacious. Labeling is simple, no nutrition info has to be on the label.

I have to complete an accredited food handling and safety coarse. The recipe has to be approved by the Department of State Health Services OR it can be approved by a qualified process authority (basically two professors at Texas A&M), OR each batch must be tested for pH (must be 4.6 or less and I do have a pH meter) and uniquely numbered. The records must kept for a year. I can sell online but I have to deliver in person.

If I produce for wholesale distribution or use a co-packer then I must get a food manufacturer's license. This involves using an inspected commercial kitchen. I can make a rental agreement with an existing commercial kitchen and the county would not inspect me if the kitchen is already certified but the state might. Using a co-packer would mean they do the work, worry about inspections, and I sell the product although they can also distribute for me. This would definitely be more of an expense but helps with liabilities.

[DTro]

Can't help but just saying, you could probably sell 10 gallons to us. No questions asked

[DavidNorcross]

I would recommend Southern Flavoring in Bedford VA. I know the owner personally and if he will do it they will do a great job for you. What I am not sure of is the batch size, but worth checking into for sure.

[58limited]

So, on a whim I made a lowball offer of $65.00 on this lightly used A02 pneumatic bottle filler on ebay and won. At least it will be easier than a funnel and ladle. Maximum fill is 50 ml so I might have to hit the pedal three times per 5 oz. bottle. The tank holds 10 liters. Now off to Harbor Freight for a small compressor...