Peanut Brittle Business Plan, With a Holiday Projection

A peanut brittle business plan is mostly a plan for one season. Brittle keeps for weeks in a sealed bag, it's cheap to make, and it's a classic gift, so November and December can be four times an ordinary month, and the plan has to buy peanuts, tins and boxes ahead of them. It's also one of the easiest candies to start at home: most state cottage food laws allow candy made in a home kitchen and sold directly to customers. In the example below, a candy maker in Dothan, Alabama, sells bags, tins and holiday gift boxes at markets and online within the state, makes a profit every month, earns almost half the year's profit in November and December, and ends the year about $22,400 ahead on $48,100 of sales, after paying $20 an hour for the cooking. Below is a description example, each part of the plan, the rules, the year, the startup budget, and a free template.

The short version

• Describe the business in a paragraph: the brittle, where you sell, the kitchen, the goals.
• Cost each size with your time in it: peanuts, sugar, syrup, butter, the bag or tin, card fees.
• Price small bags for impulse, tins and gift boxes for the holidays.
• Brittle is candy, which most cottage food laws allow from a home kitchen; check your state's limits.
• Buy tins, boxes and peanuts in October for the holidays.
• Plan the year around December: holiday cash carries the slow months.
• TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and cost, and what's left for the holidays. More below.

Part 1: the business description

Old Mill Brittle Co., a made-up candy maker in Dothan, Alabama, I use in these examples, writes:

Old Mill Brittle Co. makes peanut brittle from Alabama peanuts in small batches in a home kitchen under Alabama's cottage food law, sold at two farmers markets, a holiday craft fair, and online with delivery and mail within Alabama. In our first year we plan to sell 150 holiday gift boxes in December.

Part 2: what each size costs

A 4-pound batch takes about 45 minutes of cooking, pouring, stretching and breaking, so the time is the biggest line on every size. How to cost candy with your time in it is in how to price baked goods.

Part 3: customers and prices

The snack bag is the market impulse buy; the gift box carries December. Shipping on online orders is charged to the customer at cost.

Part 4: the rules

Most state cottage food laws allow candy, including brittle, made in a home kitchen and sold directly to customers, with a label and sometimes a course or registration. Alabama's law requires a food safety course and a county review of the labels, sets no sales cap, and allows direct sales in person, by phone or online, delivered or mailed within Alabama, but not to shops for resale. Selling to stores means a licensed kitchen. The details are in Alabama cottage food law, and how a home food business starts in how to start a cottage food business. This is general information, not legal advice.

Part 5: the year, month by month

Fixed costs are $350 a month: insurance ($45), market fees ($120), the website and online orders ($35), software and card fees ($30), marketing ($80), and shipping supplies ($40). Month 1 is September; December is full speed:

The year's sales are $48,143 and the profit $22,430, on top of $20 an hour for the cooking; November and December earn $10,421 of it. February's Valentine's orders lift it a little above January.

Part 6: the startup budget

How the bags themselves are sealed and labeled for sale is in packaging cost per unit.

Get the template

Download the peanut brittle business plan template. Four sheets: products with price, variable cost and units at full speed; the year month by month with a ramp you can change; 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

December runs on stock made in November: tins filled, gift boxes packed, peanuts bought before the price moves. A plan's averages don't say how many tins are in the closet or which batch each came from.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and cost, and what's left for the holidays.

Each batch a lot. A batch of brittle gets a lot with its date and best-before, lot labels print with it, and the batch notes which peanut lot it used.

What it costs. Each batch carries its true cost, the tin or box included, at the price you paid.

Oldest first. First-expired-first-out is the default, so October's tins go out before November's, and a forecast shows what will expire unsold after the holidays.

Lots, batches, recipes and true cost 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.

Questions people also ask

Can I sell peanut brittle from home?

In most states, yes, under a cottage food law that allows candy made in a home kitchen and sold directly to customers; check your state's rules and limits.

How much should I sell peanut brittle for?

In the example, $8 for an 8 oz bag, $16 for a 1 lb tin and $28 for a 1.5 lb gift box, from variable costs of $3.55, $7.98 and $12.24.

Is a peanut brittle business profitable?

In the example, $22,430 on $48,143 of sales in the first year, after paying $20 an hour for the cooking, with almost half the profit in November and December.

How long does peanut brittle last?

Weeks in a sealed bag kept dry; humidity makes it sticky, so seal it well.