Tofu Business Plan, With a 12-Month Projection

A tofu business plan sets out what you'll make and who buys it, what a block costs from the soybeans up, the grinder, cooker and presses, and the first year month by month. Soybeans are cheap, about 54 cents of beans in a pound of firm tofu, so the cost is in the making: soaking, grinding, cooking the soy milk, curdling, pressing, cutting and packing, and in keeping a perishable product cold all the way to the customer. Fresh, local tofu sells for a premium at markets and natural food shops, restaurants buy it by the pound, and smoked tofu and soy milk use the same soy milk for more money. In the example below, a tofu maker in Ames, Iowa, sells blocks at markets and shops, bulk tofu to restaurants, smoked tofu and soy milk, makes a profit from month 5, and ends the year about $14,800 ahead on $94,700 of sales, after paying $20 an hour for the making. Below is a description example, each part of the plan, keeping it safe, the projection, the startup budget, and a free template.

The short version

• Describe the business in a paragraph: the tofu, the buyers, the kitchen, the goals.
• Cost a block from the soybeans: yield is about 2.2 pounds of firm tofu to a pound of dry beans here.
• Sell blocks at retail, bulk tofu to restaurants, and smoked tofu and soy milk for more margin.
• Tofu is perishable and kept cold; plan the cooler, the sealer and the delivery.
• Restaurants take volume at a thin margin; smoked tofu and soy milk lift the average.
• The grinder and cooker are the startup's biggest line.
• TaroStack keeps every batch with its soybean lot and its date. More below.

Part 1: the business description

Skunk River Tofu Co., a made-up tofu maker in Ames, Iowa, I use in these examples, writes:

Skunk River Tofu Co. makes fresh firm and extra-firm tofu, smoked tofu and soy milk from Iowa-grown food-grade soybeans, sold at two farmers markets, in natural food shops and co-ops, and by the pound to restaurants. Every pack carries a lot code and a use-by date.

Part 2: what a block costs

A pound of dry soybeans makes about 2.2 pounds of firm tofu in the example, so a 16-ounce block holds 0.45 pounds of beans. Yield moves with the beans and how firm the tofu is pressed; measure it on every batch, as in batch yield formula. The making minutes are a batch's hours divided by the blocks.

Part 3: customers and prices

Restaurants take the most tofu and leave a dollar a pound; smoked tofu leaves almost four times that on half the beans. Soy milk is made on the way to tofu anyway, so it's the cheapest line to add. A shop or co-op buying blocks wholesale needs its own margin; how to set that price is in how to price baked goods for wholesale, where the same arithmetic applies.

Part 4: keeping it safe

Fresh tofu is a perishable, high-moisture food that needs refrigeration from the press to the customer's fridge. The plan cools blocks quickly in cold water, seals them in tubs with a use-by date, keeps them in a walk-in cooler, and delivers in an insulated van; tofu made for sale is made in a licensed kitchen under the state or county food program, which may ask for a written process. Shelf life is worth testing rather than guessing; a shelf life study template sets one up. This is general information, not legal advice.

Part 5: the first year, month by month

Fixed costs are $2,485 a month: production space ($1,500), the steady part of the boiler, water and power ($300), insurance ($80), permits and lab tests ($80), market fees ($200), the delivery van ($250), the website ($40), and software and card fees ($35). Sales start at 15% of full speed and reach it by month 11:

The year's sales are $94,690 and the profit $14,774, on top of $20 an hour for the making. At full speed the kitchen uses about 1,400 pounds of soybeans a month; a price rise of 20 cents a pound on beans costs about $280 every month, which is why the bean contract matters.

Part 6: the startup budget

Get the template

Download the tofu business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products with price, variable cost and monthly volume at full speed; the year, month by month, with sales, profit and cash; your fixed costs; and your startup budget with working cash. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.

Where this stops working

Soybeans bought by the ton in lots, batches every morning, blocks dated by batch in a walk-in, restaurants ordering by text, and shops reordering weekly. A notebook can't say how many blocks of each are in the cooler, which batch a restaurant got, or what a block costs now that beans have gone up.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps every batch with its soybean lot and its date.

Batches from the beans. Each product is a recipe, and units convert: soybeans bought by the 50-pound bag, used by the pound. Recording a batch takes the beans, coagulant and packaging off stock from the lots used, at what you paid, notes the lots automatically, and divides by the blocks that came out, so a batch with a lower yield shows in its cost.

Blocks by lot and date. Every batch goes into a lot with its use-by date, picking takes the oldest first, and blocks close to their date show in your alerts. One report walks a soybean lot to every customer who got tofu from it.

And the standing orders. Restaurant and shop orders are sales orders for their delivery day that show whether the tofu is in the cooler while you're still typing, and margins are reported by product and by customer.

Recipes, batches, lots, recalls and margins by product and customer 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

Is a tofu business profitable?

It can be. In the example, a tofu maker selling blocks, restaurant tofu, smoked tofu and soy milk ends the first year about $14,800 ahead on $94,700 of sales, with $20 an hour paid for the making.

How much tofu does a pound of soybeans make?

In the example, about 2.2 pounds of firm tofu from a pound of dry soybeans. Softer tofu yields more, extra-firm less.

How much does it cost to make a block of tofu?

In the example, 54 cents of soybeans in a 16-ounce block, and $2.54 in all with the coagulant, energy, packaging, 4 minutes of making and card fees.

How much does it cost to start a tofu business?

In the example, $21,700 with a grinder and cooker, presses and molds, a walk-in cooler, a tray sealer, sinks and tables, first supplies, permits and $4,500 of working cash.