Contract olive oil bottling and labelling

Small olive growers, boutique brand owners, farm gate sellers, gift hamper makers and cafes or restaurants with their own label.

A fee per bottle or per batch, with extras for label application, gift packing and sourcing bottles and caps. Busy periods follow harvest and pre-Christmas.

• Careful, clean hands-on work
• Organising batches and orders
• Basic understanding of food labelling
• Talking to growers and small brands

• Food business registration with your local council, and any food safety supervisor or training rules in your state
• Labelling rules in the Food Standards Code, including net quantity, country of origin and any 'extra virgin' claims, which sit with the customer's label but affect you too
• Check whether the customer's oil meets the quality standard they claim, and keep batch records so you can trace each lot
• Public liability and product liability insurance
• Measurement rules for packaged goods, check with the National Measurement Institute
• Seasonal work, so plan your cash flow for quiet months

Estimates suggest startup costs are typically around $8,000 to $40,000, depending on your filling, capping and labelling equipment, the space you use and insurance.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated at around $2,000 to $10,000, depending on how many growers and brands you serve and your batch sizes. The work is seasonal, so plan your cash flow for quiet months.

Things to check: food business registration with your council, food safety supervisor rules in your state, Food Standards Code labelling rules, batch records for traceability, product liability insurance, and measurement rules with the National Measurement Institute.