Anyone on here wholesale as a residential kitchen? I'm in MA and I'm looking into it. Just wondering what you had to go through to get to that point. Right now I'm looking at a $300 application fee for the license.

After applying for $300 to the state (and sending a list of every single product I intend to sell along with matching labels), I'll need to go through a state health inspection. I'm sure I'll need to be much more diligent about cleanliness and organization for that, ha.

Essentially, I've been in touch with a local florist and she wants to buy some of my goods to use in holiday gift baskets. I'd also like to get my products into a few local stores so in addition to selling directly to the consumer, I'd also like to get into the business-to-business side of things.

I'd love some advice from ANYONE, even if you are not in MA! This is a kind of confusing and overwhelming process!

When looking at the wholesale market, it is helpful to have a minimum wholesale price and a maximum retail price for each product. If the retailer wants to buy your products for below the minimum wholesale price or plans on marking them up to above your maximum retail price (based on your own research of what the market will bear) then that's not a good deal for you.

Another thing to watch out for is cannibalization, assuming you also sell retail yourself -- it is important to differentiate your wholesale line from the products you sell directly to consumers.

Also make sure you know how the retailer will be handling the food (if the products can be kept at room temp, frozen, etc.) and that they are aware of expiry dates.