Hi all! I know this isn't exactly cake-centric, but you all are the best source of food-and-dessert-related information I could think of, so it seemed like a good place to start!

My uncle makes these tarts. They. are. the. best. Hands down. If I could choose only one dessert for the rest of my life, this would be the one. I'm telling you, they are amazing.

He worked for years to develop the tarts to where they are now, and serves them at most family gatherings, has been doing so for many years. Everyone loves them. So in an off-handed comment, it was suggested to him that he start selling them, and, knowing that I make cakes, he contacted me just to see what I knew about the logistics of selling baked goods.

The complications I can foresee are:
1. Where to sell/how to market them - would this be better approached as a custom thing, you know, place an order for what and when? Or would there be some way to pre-package them?

2. Fresh(!) berries - we would need to have access to berries year-round...and in large quantities. How would we keep costs down?

3. The usual issues of legalities, etc - I imagine they're not much different than for selling cakes, but seeing as how I don't do that (yet), I'm not entirely schooled on it especially in NY (where he is based) as I am in NJ.

Any thoughts? It's not necessarily something he (or we) will pursue, but we figured it was worth doing some research, maybe going as far as a business plan before ruling it out!

Thanks!

The rules are the same for HD unless there is a separate license for non-perishable.

You can sell anything you want on the internet. I certainly do. I would suggest made-to-order. If you can't get fresh fruit year round, consider a seasonal business. Look at high end markets such as Whole Foods. Their produce is beautiful all the time. You may be able to have a longer season with them or a store like them.

My kitchen is licensed with no restrictions. My brother wants to use it to manufacture his barbecue sauce. He just needs a separate license, insurance, and state/local/fed accounts. But my kitchen will work for him too. You could consider sharing.

Did I post this in the lounge? Was I that tired last night? I totally meant to post in the business forum...oh well!

Thanks for the reply! Anyone else?

We sell some fruit tarts (most of our business is cakes) year-round, and we let people know that since fruit is seasonal we will do our best to meet requests for specific fruit but we reserve the right to make substitutions if the off-season fruit doesn't look good. We buy fruit for fruit tarts from our local farmer's market in the summer and from Costco at other times. Mango and kiwi are some good alternatives to berries.

In both NJ and NY (for direct to customer sales) you will need a licensed and inspected commercial kitchen. In NY you can sell wholesale, but that might be difficult since fruit tarts have very short shelf lives.

Maybe top with a compote (that can be made from frozen berries) instead of fresh? I'm not sure what the structure of the tart is but it would work if there were a base underneath like curd or custard.