You have a signature item — perhaps a pasta sauce, a homemade jam or a salad dressing — that is out of this world. Customers rave about the item and beg you to let them take some home — or to at least give them the recipe. Naturally, you've wondered, "Could I bottle this, sell it in grocery stores, make millions and monitor the sales from my new home in Tahiti?"

It's possible — if you're one of the skillful, hardworking few who manage to grab a nice slice of the competitive $30 billion specialty-food market. Here are five questions to ask yourself before plunging into a business that's a world away from a restaurant kitchen.

Am I willing to be a tireless marketer?

Every year, dozens of great-tasting gourmet products are introduced in every category-baking mixes, cooking sauces, salsas, dressings, flavored coffees, cookies and chocolates, for instance. Those new products compete for space in gourmet stores, in mail-order catalogs and increasingly, on grocery-store shelves.
A great-tasting product does not guarantee success. "The main thing is the marketing angle," says Shermain Hardesty, who helps people launch products as principal of the Food Marketing and Economics Group in Davis, California. "There's a lot of competition, and you must differentiate your product in terms of packaging and flavoring or some other meaningful feature to consumers."

It's difficult to even make your product available beyond your restaurant. Grocery stores require "slotting fees" to place your product on the shelves. Some mail-order catalogs demand exclusive distribution rights to your product. Even small gourmet shops may require a specific level of marketing support from you in exchange for carrying your product: They may demand discounting or frequent product demonstrations, for instance.

You can start selling your product through mom-and-pop groceries and local gift shops, but to hit the big time, you'll need wider distribution. That means wowing a food broker or distributor who can get your product into dozens of outlets at once — in exchange for a piece of the action, of course.

The restaurateurs who are most likely to succeed with a specialty-food product are those who display endless enthusiasm, craft a focused image for the product from the start, and are willing to load up the trunk of the car with samples early in the morning and drive to far-flung gourmet shops for tastings.

Of course, if you merely wish to package a product and sell it at your restaurant's cash register, your marketing efforts can be modest–perhaps as simple as printing some hand-stick labels to put on jars of the product. You won't earn enough to get the house in Tahiti, but it might be a nice check-builder that puts the name of your restaurant into refrigerators throughout town.

Am I willing to deal with 1,000 new details and a new set of regulators?

You're already acquainted with the health inspector. Now get to know the folks at the Food and Drug Administration (which regulates packaged foods), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (if your product contains meat), the alcohol control board (if it's more than one-half percent alcohol) and your state food-and-drug regulating body.

How can you learn the details of complying with the rules of these agencies? The smoothest way is to hire a food technologist as a consultant — you'll probably need one anyway to help formulate your product so that it is shelf-stable and properly preserved.

Another source of expertise is copackers. If you're ready to move production away from your own kitchen, you can employ a copacker to produce and package your product in an approved facility using your recipe. "I recommend copackers for people starting out," says Hardesty. "It'll cost more on a per-unit basis, but it helps minimize capital outlays" on equipment. In addition, you'll benefit from the experience of a company that packages food full-time and can help you with recipe formulation, regulations and labeling connections.

Some copackers are willing to produce tiny batches — even just a few dozen — while others have large minimums. Seek one with experience in your product category and with a company "personality" that suits your product.

Other important details regard the product's labeling, including a nutrient analysis for the "Nutrition Facts" section. Nutrition labeling isn't required on small-time products with modest sales, but many gourmet customers have come to expect it. To get shelf space in a grocery store, you'll also need to obtain bar coding. Call the Uniform Code Council at (513) 435-3870 — and be prepared to spend at least $300 to register.

Do I have an extra $100,000 lying around?

Needless to say, no cash flow springs from a product that's in development. In fact, it gobbles up cash. "It all costs money," says Hardesty of the fancy packaging, the nutrient analysis, warehousing fees, inspection, bar coding, payments to brokers, shipping charges and office expenses.

Even if you're certain you have a recipe for the next Grey Poupon, it will take — at the very least — two years to get the product to market. And getting the product to market doesn't ensure a profit. You'll need to undertake credit checks on distributors and retailers — and brace yourself for slow payment. "You might have $200,000 in sales and not have that much in cash flow," says San Francisco restaurateur Norine Ferrante, who is testing the waters for a product launch of gourmet cookies. "Not enough capital, and you risk failure."

Am I willing to keep my day job?

You can't quit your restaurant and immediately start selling your gourmet food, say the experts.

Surprisingly, many restaurateurs are looking to do just that, says Hardesty, who regularly teaches a course entitled "Getting Started in the Specialty Food Business." About one-third of her students are restaurateurs. "They're often burned out on the restaurant business," she says. "They have a product they've come up with, and they'd like to produce it and get out of the restaurant business." Unless you have a huge stash of capital, it's virtually impossible to switch gears so quickly.

Another reason you might not want to quit the restaurant: You need the kitchen. In most states, the letter of the law does not allow you to cook and bottle a packaged food from a home kitchen. An inspected restaurant kitchen is generally fine.

Do I absolutely love my product and the food business?

While producing a specialty product is very much a business of details and deep pockets, undying enthusiasm and perseverance are keys to riding out the long hours and tribulations. Your product will need a story, and you need to be prepared to enjoy telling that story thousands of times a year to customers, food brokers, the press and food-show attendees.

Because restaurant veterans are familiar with 70-hour workweeks, they are great candidates for the specialty-food trade. They understand that a great product must be married with hard work to achieve success. In addition, the overlap of the businesses can represent a huge cost savings in introducing a gourmet product — for instance, by using the restaurant kitchen in early-morning hours to produce batches of food, rather than having to lease a facility.

In addition, your good name in the community can be a key selling point for a product launch. And in turn, a successful packaged product can bring fame (and customers) to your restaurant. "As many negatives as there are," says Ferrante, "if you have a dream or a concept, go for it."

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