The frozen food business is one of the most promising culinary business ideas. Besides having many enthusiasts, business is also easy to do for beginners. Yep, you can start a frozen food business from home by utilizing existing equipment. With small capital and easy management, of course this business can provide promising benefits for you. However, in addition to its various advantages, there are also a number of disadvantages of the frozen food business that you need to know before diving into this business. What are they? In this article, we have summarized the sundries of the frozen food business, complete with advantages, disadvantages, and tips for running it. Let’s see the article until the end!
Overview of Frozen Food and Business Opportunities
The term frozen food may already be familiar to the public. Frozen food is a type of food that is processed by freezing. The process is intended to make food more durable so that it can be eaten at any time without fear of spoiling. In the process of freezing food, decomposition will be inhibited by converting the water content in the food into ice. This process can then inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause food spoilage. Generally, the process of making frozen food must go through six stages, namely raw material preparation, molding, coating, frying, freezing, and packaging. After the process is complete, the food must then be stored in a freezer or freezer with a minimum temperature of -18 degrees in order to last longer. However, this does not mean that frozen food will not expire. Usually, frozen foods such as fruits, vegetables, and meat can last for more than a year. But for seafood, cheese, chicken, it can only last usually up to six months. The frozen food home business opportunity is currently quite promising because people increasingly need something practical, including food. In this case, frozen food that can be stored for some time and easy to cook is the right choice to meet these needs. The following are factors that affect frozen food business opportunities, among others:
Practical
For sellers and consumers, frozen food is a practical food because good freezer storage can make frozen food ready for consumption at any time easily. For sellers, frozen food is very easy to store and has a lot of demand so the business turnover is quite promising.
No Preservatives and MSG
Although it lasts for a certain period of time, frozen food does not use preservatives and artificial flavorings. In fact, this food will be damaged if given these ingredients. This certainly gives consumers confidence that this product is healthy and hygienic.
Advantages or Pros of Frozen Food Business
In this day and age of convenience, frozen food can be a great help and solution for daily consumption. Moreover, food is preserved by freezing, not using harmful chemicals. This certainly makes frozen food business opportunities even more promising in the future. Here are some of the advantages that this type of business has, among others:
Various types of products and can be shipped
Like other types of food, frozen food is also one of the products marketed in various variants, ranging from fried foods, noodles, rice, meat, and so on. With so many choices, frozen food will always be in demand because it is not boring. One more advantage in this digital era is online delivery services. Various frozen foods that are sold can be sent using online shipping services or expeditions. Even some frozen food stores can already send their food outside the island.
Nourishing and Long-lasting
According to research, the nutrients that are present when the food is unfrozen are the same when the food has turned frozen. This shows that frozen food is just as nutritious as it was before it was frozen. The purpose of freezing food is to make it last longer so that it can be stored. Even so, you also need to pay attention to the durability of the product’s raw materials. Make sure the expiration date is still long so that it can last long in storage.
Broad Target Market
A business with a wide target market can help you earn more profits. In this case, the frozen food business is one of them. Until now, frozen food is still in great demand by consumers because it tastes good and is practical. In addition, frozen food is also safe for consumption by all groups because there are some products that do not have to be fried, such as buns and dimsum.
Frozen Food Business Weaknesses
Now, you already know what are the advantages or benefits of a frozen food business. But besides that, there are some things you need to know as a consideration. One of them is related to the disadvantages or risks of the frozen food business itself. Here are some of them:
Depending on the Freezer Machine
As the name suggests, frozen food products are frozen foods that can only last for a long time when they are in a cooling machine. So, if the product is taken out and stays at room temperature for a long time, there is a possibility that it will spoil. This is why having a spare freezer is necessary to anticipate unexpected conditions such as power outages.
Expiration Date is Often Overlooked
Although it can last a long time while in the cooling machine, frozen food also has an expiration date. Sometimes, because of its durability, many sellers forget to check the expiration of the product. In fact, the expiration date is very important to be included in food products even though it is frozen food.
Tight Competition
Starting a frozen food business is quite easy and cheap. In addition, this food product always has a stable demand in all conditions. This is why, frozen food business ideas ultimately have a fairly high demand. So, if you want to start a frozen food business, it is very important to strengthen promotions and improve product quality to compete in the market.
Tips for Starting a Frozen Food Business
The frozen food business does offer many benefits and is relatively easy to run. However, these benefits will not be achieved if you are careless in running a business. Therefore, here are some tips that can be done in starting and running a frozen food business:
Choose and Study Products
The first thing you have to do to start a frozen food business is to choose what products to sell. Given that there are so many frozen food business ideas today, ranging from dim sum, nuggets, processed meat, tofu meatballs, fried foods, and salad bars. As a business owner, you need to understand the Unique Selling Point (USP) of the product chosen and offered. You also need to learn how to make the food, the raw materials, and the right steps to freeze it.
Prepare Capital
After determining and studying the product, you can immediately detail the frozen food business capital. Business capital itself is divided into two, namely capital for equipment and operational capital. The more product stock, of course, you need a bigger freezer and electric power. So the capital that must be prepared is also not small. However, if you are still a beginner and are not ready to spend large capital, no problem. This business can still be run with small capital. The following is an approximate calculation of the frozen food business capital:
Capital Equipment:
Price of 20 liter frozen food freezer: IDR 2 million Table 1 piece: IDR 500 thousand Chairs 1 piece: IDR 200,000 Banner 1 piece: Rp50 thousand Other equipment: Rp200 thousand Total: Rp2,950,000
Monthly Operating Capital
Beef sausage 30 pcs: Rp900K Chicken sausage 30 pcs: Rp600 thousand Kebabs 30 pcs: Rp900 thousand Assorted chicken nuggets and preparations 40 pcs: Rp800 thousand Assorted processed seafood 100 pcs: IDR 2 million Assorted dim sum 30 pcs: Rp600 thousand Electricity and water: Rp300 thousand Plastic packaging: Rp100 thousand Total: Rp6,200,000
Find a Reliable Raw Material Supplier
The next tip is to find a supplier or supplier of frozen food ingredients. This should not be done carelessly because it will affect the products that will be sold later. Make sure to choose a trusted supplier who already has a good track record so that product quality and safety are maintained.
Provide the necessary equipment
Do not hesitate to buy quality equipment that is not easily damaged. Because, if the equipment is easily damaged, the repair is likely to require a lot of money. As for some of the equipment used to run a frozen food business, among others:
- Freezer
- Packaging press tool
- Vacuum packaging machine
- Specialized plastic packaging for frozen food
- Other equipment such as stove, pot, pan, blender, chopper, etc.
Decide on Packaging
The next frozen food business tip is to determine the packaging. In this case, you must ensure that the frozen food packaging uses special non-porous plastic. In addition, the packaging needs to be pressed using a vacuum machine so that the air inside is eliminated and avoided from bacteria or foreign objects to maintain its durability. Don’t forget to label and indicate the expiration date of the product on the food packaging.
Create the Right Marketing Strategy
To market your products, you can do promotions on social media and chat applications. Meanwhile, in the offline frozen food business, you can utilize direct sales to communicate directly with customers such as neighbors and friends. Don’t hesitate to enter the online market or e-commerce. Because, customer behavior has now changed and you must follow the trend if you want to survive and thrive.
Complete Food Licenses and Permits
The last tip that is no less important is that you must prepare an official license and distribution permit. Yes, even if you only run a home-based frozen food business, taking care of a Household Industry Food (PIR) license is still important.
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Don’t forget to obtain a license from the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM), a halal certificate from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), and a health certificate from the local City/District Health Office. This will add value to your business in the eyes of customers, where they will certainly increasingly believe that the frozen food sold is proven legal, safe, and good for consumption. That’s the explanation about the sundries of the frozen food business. This type of food is indeed not a new product for the community and now, frozen food variants are present not only as a simple menu, but a more diverse menu that we usually find in restaurants. This is what ultimately makes the frozen food business opportunity wide open and is considered capable of bringing great profits if managed properly. The proliferation of frozen food businesses is proof that this business cannot be underestimated.
KH Contact
Well, for KH Pals who are currently interested in trying a frozen food business and need services that can facilitate the business from determining the target market, marketing, to legalities such as brand registration, NIB, and certification, you can immediately contact Kontrak Hukum. We provide Digital Business Assistant (DiBA) services that are suitable for you as a frozen food businessman who needs a complete team in accounting, legality, and taxation.
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By subscribing, you can get business services ranging from brand registration, NIB, even to marketing and financial services in just one place with DiBA Kontrak Hukum. Let’s make your frozen food business easier by visiting the KH Services – Digital Assistant page. If you have further questions about other business needs, you can also contact us at Ask KH or send a direct message (DM) to Instagram @kontrakhukum.
