Guide to Food and Beverage Industry Planning

Food and beverage is a huge industry, ranging from restaurants to beverage manufacturers. If you are looking to break into the food and beverage industry or are seeking to expand your existing operation, you must know where to go to find the information you need.

Starting a food and beverage company from scratch requires a lot of planning and research. What markets are popular? Which ones are on the decline? How do you find equipment and start up capital? Then you need to decide what food beverage products you plan to market.

Food and beverage industry resources include:

1. Magazines and Newsletters
2. Software
3. Market Researchers

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Track trends in the food business and beverage industry

A major component of the food and beverage industry is knowing what trends are hot and what trends are not. One the best resources to consult when studying food industry trends are industry magazines and websites. There are several magazines and newsletters, both online and in print that report on food industries. They profile food and beverage companies and keep entrepreneurs abreast of the latest trends.

I recommend: The National Restaurant Association is a leader in up to date trends in food and beverage. Just-Food covers the latest industry news and sends out daily email reports. Beverage World and Adams Beverage Group are two other electronic resources that feature in-depth coverage of the growing beverage industry.

Improve business efficiency with food and beverage software

Keep all your food and beverage information organized with simple to use software programs. There are many software programs available that deal directly with the food industry and the beverage industry. They can help a business stay organized by tracking customer orders, purchases and sales.

I recommend: VISCO, Venture Information Systems, designs importing software packages designed for importing and whole distributors. This is ideal for a food or beverage company looking to break into large scale distribution. The VISCO software can be integrated with Quickbooks Pro, another business software that can help you stay on top of your finances. SMC Data Systems offers software created specifically for the food and beverage industry.

Recruit help with market research

Sometimes it is best to consult professionals when looking into industries like the food and beverage industries, which have trends and fads that come and go. Many market and research companies deal directly with the food and beverage industries, helping business owners make decisions about production and advertising.

I recommend: MarketReseach.com offers food market research reports, broken down by categories, to help track food and beverage trends. 

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Just because you think a certain brand of food or drink will sell like hotcakes, don't assume everyone else will. Do your homework before investing a lot of time and money into a food and beverage operation.

The official source of Food and Beverage Industry Planning is
the Food and Beverage page at Business.com