IDEA
The most important thing is to come up with the idea in which not only you will passionately believe but which would also lead many others throughout all the production steps.
Every day we get lots of homemade drink recipes with the query whether we could produce or bottle it. First thing what needs to be understood is that it is very hard to copy a homemade drink while using professional raw materials. So, it is not going to taste the same as it did in your kitchen or in domestic laboratory.
The function of a drink could help you to find the right path. It may vary from a simple one – like refreshing, to more complicated ones – like digest or beauty. Knowing the function of a drink will clarify your next steps, such as ingredients or possible flavor solutions.
INGREDIENTS
If you are willing to start a beverage business, firstly we would suggest to familiarize with all the necessary parts for the drink:
Sweetening: the table below has all criterias so it could help you to find the most suitable solution.
| Ordinary | Cheap | Medium price | 0 calories | No sugar | Healthy | |
| Sugar | + | + | ||||
| Artificial sweeteners | + | + | + | + | ||
| Stevia | + | + | + | + | ||
| Deionised grape juice concentrate | + | + | ||||
| Honey/Agave nectar | + | + |
Acidity regulators: the most popular and at the same time the cheapest ingredient is citric acid, which is assumed to be a friendly E 330. But if you want to make your drink 100% natural you can use either vitamin C or tartaric acid, which is a product of natural fermentation process. Also, it is possible to use lemon juice concentrates.
Flavorings: the taste of your drink is one of the most important parts. So, once again you have to think about the function of your drink. Natural drink dictates the usage of natural flavors. But if you sweeten your drink with artificial sweeteners then there are few different solutions which may also influence the taste.
Juice content: 95% of requests we get include inquiry to add juice content. You have to keep in mind that juice content drink requires more investment than usual. Why? Firstly, the juice concentrates are quite expensive ingredients, especially concentrates of the berries or exotic fruits. Secondly, the filling procedure is more complicated. It needs either pasteurization or aseptic filling. Both of these fillings need a special bottles and caps which create additional cost.
Preservatives: there are two possibilities – to have or not to have preservatives in a drink. Without preservatives drinks need pasteurization process. So, as mentioned above, the pasteurization process has a huge impact to your products price.
PACKAGING and FILLING. We get quite a bit of inquires from people who have no idea about the minimum orders of the raw materials and filling volumes. It is important to understand that the first small quantities will be more expensive. Regarding the packaging, there is always a possibility to create your own packaging, but it will cost more than a standard one. So, sometimes it is better to take smaller risk – pick the standard packaging just to check the market. If it is successful – you can always change it!
However, the biggest mistake is way too high expectations. Lots of entrepreneurs think that beverage industry is easy money because of quick process and quick sales. Our last tip – think wisely and you will create a success!
