A mustard business is one of the cheaper food businesses to start: seed, vinegar and spices cost little, a jar keeps well, and shops, markets and restaurants all buy it. The plan below follows six products, three mustards for shops, jars at markets and online, restaurant gallons and a gift trio, with a first year month by month. One label point to settle early: mustard isn't one of the nine major food allergens in the United States, but Canada lists mustard seed as a food allergen. A jar headed to a Canadian shop has to show mustard as an allergen source, in the ingredient list or in a "contains" statement, named "mustard", "mustard seed" or "mustard seeds". An ingredient list that already names the seed covers it. In the example, a Kansas City mustard maker starts with $22,500, ends its first year about $20,200 ahead before the owner's pay, and makes about $4,300 a month at full speed. Below is each part of the plan, the startup budget, and a free template.
The short version
- Describe the business in a paragraph: the mustards, who buys, where, the goals.
- Price for shops, markets, restaurants and gifts separately; markets keep the most of each jar.
- In the United States, mustard isn't a major food allergen.
- In Canada, it is: show it in the ingredient list or a "contains" statement as mustard or mustard seed.
- Name the seed in the ingredient list, and one label works for both.
- Have a process authority review the recipe and process before you sell a shelf-stable jar.
- TaroStack makes each batch from its recipe, with the seed lot it used. More below.
Part 1: the business description
West Bottoms Mustard Co., a made-up mustard maker in Kansas City, Missouri, writes:
West Bottoms Mustard Co. makes stone-ground mustard in a shared commercial kitchen: whole-grain, honey and spicy brown mustards in 8-ounce jars for local shops, jars at markets and our website, gallons for barbecue restaurants, and a gift trio. In its first year it aims to sell about 2,700 jars a month.
Part 2: mustard on the label, two countries
| United States | Canada | |
|---|---|---|
| Is mustard an allergen on the label? | No: not one of the nine major food allergens | Yes: mustard seed is a food allergen |
| Where it shows | In the ingredient list, like any ingredient | In the ingredient list, or a food allergen source statement |
| The name | Its common name | "Mustard", "mustard seed" or "mustard seeds" |
West Bottoms' ingredient lists already read "mustard seeds", so when a gift shop in Winnipeg asked for the trio, the allergen source was on the label. The honey mustard needed nothing more, since honey isn't an allergen in either country. How allergens show on a US label is in food labeling requirements for small business, and the order of the ingredient list in ingredient list order.
Part 3: the rules
The major food allergens in the United States are milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame (21 U.S.C. 321(qq)); mustard isn't among them. Canada's Food and Drug Regulations list mustard seeds as a food allergen, and a prepackaged product shows a food allergen's source in the list of ingredients or in a food allergen source statement, by the name "mustard", "mustard seed" or "mustard seeds" (B.01.010.1). Canada has other label rules besides; the buyer or an import specialist can tell you which apply. Whether a shelf-stable jar falls under the acidified foods rules is in acid food vs acidified food. This is general information, not legal advice.
Part 4: products and what each earns
| Product | Price | Variable cost | Contribution | Margin | A month at full speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole-grain mustard, 8 oz, to shops | $4.25 | $1.85 | $2.40 | 56.5% | 900 |
| Honey mustard, 8 oz, to shops | $4.25 | $1.95 | $2.30 | 54.1% | 700 |
| Spicy brown mustard, 8 oz, to shops | $4.00 | $1.70 | $2.30 | 57.5% | 500 |
| Jars at markets and online | $8.50 | $2.20 | $6.30 | 74.1% | 450 |
| Restaurant gallon | $26.00 | $10.50 | $15.50 | 59.6% | 50 |
| Gift trio | $22.00 | $7.20 | $14.80 | 67.3% | 60 |
Variable costs are seed, vinegar, honey and spices, the jar, lid and label, and card fees and shipping supplies where they apply. At full speed the business sells $15,245 a month and keeps $9,418, 61.8%. A jar at the market keeps $6.30, more than two and a half times what the same jar keeps at a shop.
Part 5: the first year, month by month
Fixed costs are $5,100 every month: shared kitchen time ($1,300), storage ($250), part-time help ($2,400), insurance ($150), market fees ($300), the website and software ($100), marketing ($400), and other costs ($200). Sales start at 35% of full speed:
| Month | Sales | Profit | Cash, year to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,353 | −$1,793 | −$1,793 |
| 2 | $6,399 | −$1,147 | −$2,940 |
| 3 | $7,623 | −$391 | −$3,331 |
| 4 | $8,847 | $365 | −$2,966 |
| 5 | $9,927 | $1,033 | −$1,933 |
| 6 | $10,972 | $1,678 | −$255 |
| 7 | $11,896 | $2,249 | $1,994 |
| 8 | $12,797 | $2,805 | $4,799 |
| 9 | $13,577 | $3,287 | $8,086 |
| 10 | $14,322 | $3,747 | $11,833 |
| 11 | $14,801 | $4,043 | $15,876 |
| 12 | $15,245 | $4,318 | $20,194 |
The year's sales are $131,755 and the profit $20,194, before the owner's pay. The business breaks even at about $8,260 of sales a month, in the fourth month; the lowest cash point, −$3,331 in month 3, is well inside the $8,000 of working cash. Barbecue season and the holiday gift trio are the two busy stretches.
Part 6: the startup budget
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Stone mill for the seed | $3,500 |
| Kettle and filler | $3,000 |
| Jars and lids, first order | $2,500 |
| Label design and first labels | $2,500 |
| Process review and testing | $1,500 |
| Licenses and permits | $800 |
| Market display | $700 |
| Working cash | $8,000 |
| Total to start | $22,500 |
The $14,500 before working cash is earned back in under four months at full speed. A condiment with a federal standard to meet is in ketchup business plan.
Get the template
Download the mustard business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products, each with its price, variable cost and units a month at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales ramping up, profit, cash, the first profitable month and the lowest cash point; your fixed costs; and the startup budget. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The plan counts jars. The kitchen counts seed: which sack of brown and yellow seed went into which batch, how many jars each batch filled, and which shops in which country got them.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack makes each batch from its recipe, with the seed lot it used.
Recipes by weight. Each mustard is a recipe by weight, so a batch takes seed, vinegar and jars off stock and the cost of a jar follows the price of seed.
Batches by lot. Each batch gets its own lot and best-by date, with the seed lots that went into it.
Lots to every customer. Each order records the lots it took, so the Winnipeg shop's jars trace back to a seed sack.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which seed went into a batch | A label on the sack | Batches by lot |
| Cost of a jar | Last year's figure | True cost from the recipe |
| Who got a batch | Invoices | One recall report |
Recipes, batches and lots are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.