The holiday season is here: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and soon New Year’s Eve. You might be feeling the pressure to up your sales during this high shopping season. But remember what all these celebrations have in common: food. Instead of spending more money on more marketing, why not create new seasonal food products instead?
Add Seasonal Ingredients to Your Regular Product LineYou'll be using the same ingredients you always use in your food production business and just adding a few seasonal ingredients to change your product. Here’s a list ingredients to consider adding to your seasonal food products.
Ingredients for Seasonal Food Production
|
Herbs & Spices |
Veggies |
Fruits |
Sweets |
Savoury |
Nuts/Seeds |
|
Allspice Anise Black pepper Caraway Cardamom Cinnamon Clove Coriander Cumin Garlic Ginger Marjoram Mint Nutmeg Parsley Rosemary Saffron Sage Thyme |
Beet Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Celery roots Leeks Mushrooms Onions Parsnips Potatoes Radishes Root vegetables Sprouts Squash Sweet potatoes Turnips Zucchini |
Apples Cherries Cranberries Currants Figs Lemons Oranges Pears Pumpkins |
Apple pie Brown sugar Butter tarts Caramel Cheesecake Chocolate Cream Licorice Maple Shortbread Sugar cookies Trifle Vanilla |
Butter Cornbread Eggnog Horseradish Pine resin (yep, it’s in mulled wine) Chai Oatmeal |
Cashews Chestnuts Hazelnuts Pecans Coconut |
OAFVC Product Development Lab and Consulting
At the Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre, we can help you with each stage of product development. Our business consulting services can help you research and choose a product that will appeal to your target audience. Then, you can experiment and test at the OAFVC product development and quality control lab. Food Technologists are available for hire as required. We also have chefs on staff to consult with tasting. We even have a graphic designer to help you create new labels that show off your seasonal food products. Simply create, then watch your new product fly off the shelves.
Get Started on Developing Seasonal Food Products
Avoid these 3 common roadblocks to expanding your food production business.
References
https://naturalfactors.com/articles/the-uses-and-benefits-of-popular-winter-spices/
https://www.spicely.com/collections/winter-spices
https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/photos/great-canadian-thanksgiving-recipes/
https://ottawacitizen.com/life/food/are-these-10-things-on-your-thanksgiving-list-they-should-be
https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/traditional-christmas-foods-across-canada/
