Hello!

Baking & cake decorating has long been a passion of mine. In an effort to FINALLY pursue my passion (and hopefully be able to open a storefront), I would like to start selling cupcakes & muffins at my local farmer's market... but need some advice since this will be my first season.

After reading some of the other forum postings, it seems like packaging cupcakes in 2's is the best. I was looking to package them in 4's but not too sure now... any advice on how to decide?

Also, transporting the cupcakes to the market has me a tad stumped. I've found packaging I'd like to use & was thinking of using coolers. After looking into the dimensions of the cooler, it seems like I wouldn't be able to fit very many in a 100 quart cooler. Using a box that's 7x7x4, I would only be able to fit approx 16 packages of 4 in 1 cooler w/o smashing them. Obviously I would need more than 1 cooler but I also don't want to end up with several coolers. Any suggestions??

Thanks in advance! Greatly appreciate any suggestions!!!

would love to hear this as well! Good luck on your first season, I start my first season in april!

-Sweetheart-

How are you estimating your quantity? I'm thinking 25 dozen but don't think that's going to be enough. Ahhh... should have paid more attention this past season!

well im not doing cupcakes, but it depends on your area, basically, my stuff (cookies, cake truffles, and home made candy) I am making one full batch of each....... and will go from there depending on what i sell the first time

Thanks.... that's what I was leaning towards too.

I did some searching today & found a good way to transport things. If you don't want to lug around coolers, look into the bigger sized Rubbermaid or Sterlite plastic totes. If you need to keep things cool, I found dry ice pack called TechniIce http://www.techniice.com/english/index.htm
They sound like they'd work great! You can find them pretty inexpensive on amazon. Hope this helps!

Sweetheart & Angelic81 do either of you have to have licensing for selling food at your local farmers market? I have desired to sell cakes, cupcakes etc @ my local farmer's market but I'm always told that I must be licensed.

pastryqueen9: I'm required to get a temporary food vendor license from our county. In addition, I'm taking a ServSafe class offered by our county Health Department. It's not required but it's always a good idea to look into one since things are constantly changing. Check with the city/town where the market will be. They may have guidelines posted. You can also check with your county health department. If you need anything else, let me know. I'm happy to help!

at my market I dont, Its the ONLY place I can sell without a commercial kitchen

There are several states that have laws that allow home bakers to bake specifically for farmer's markets or roadside stands. You just have to check with your state and more specifically your local health dept.

Thanks so much for the information