Online salad and healthy bowl kitchen

Busy professionals, offices ordering team lunches, and local customers who want healthy meals delivered or ready for pickup.

Per-order sales of salads and bowls, weekly subscription or pre-order plans, and larger office catering orders.

• Food prep and food safety
• Basic online marketing
• Planning and organizing orders
• Customer service

• Health department permit and food handler or manager certification, rules vary by county and state
• Cottage food laws usually do not cover fresh salads with perishable ingredients, so check before cooking at home
• General liability insurance, and product liability coverage, since you are selling food
• Kitchen rental hours can limit how much you can make
• Delivery app fees and the need for cold storage and safe transport
• Sales tax registration with your state, check whether prepared food is taxable

Startup costs for a salad and bowl kitchen using a rented commissary are typically estimated around $3,000 to $15,000, depending on kitchen rental, packaging, cold storage and how you set up your website and ordering.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated around $2,000 to $10,000, depending on how many orders you can prepare, your pricing and your kitchen rental hours. Delivery app fees and ingredient costs reduce what you keep.

Check first. Cottage food laws usually do not cover fresh salads with perishable ingredients. Also check health department permits, food handler or manager certification, product liability insurance and whether your state taxes prepared food. Rules vary by county and state.