Do you know 87% of the Canadians prefer to order home cooked meals over restaurant made food. In today’s fast-paced world the demand for convenient, healthy home-cooked meals is on the rise. If you’re considering venturing into the Tiffin Service Business that bridges the gaps between busy schedules and the desire for fresh and home-like food, here’s a comprehensive guide on how to start a home-cooked healthy tiffin service/meal prep business in Canada.
Is there any market for tiffin service/meal prep businesses in Canada?
Before diving in, the most important point to keep in mind is that who is your target audience. Usually students, office workers and fitness enthusiasts are primary customers to tiffin services. You will find most home cooked meals businesses offer Indian/Punjabi/Gujarati tiffin services in Canada. There are also meal prep businesses that offer healthy meals especially designed for people doing workouts regularly and are not able meet their dietary needs. A thorough research should be conducted in order to understand the competition and market trends in the area where you plan to setup your tiffin service business. Start by taking trials for the food that is offered by other home-cooked food services.
How to start subscription based tiffin service business in Canada?
As mentioned above, you will need to understand your specialisation and with that you will be able to define your mission statement and core values. This will help you set apart your tiffin business from the other tiffin service options available in the market. You can also choose to serve different ingredients for example organic or cater to specific dietary needs. As the next step you have to decide your service offerings whether it is vegetarian, non vegetarian or keto diet food. Plan your pricing strategy by targeting immigrant students with lower-priced meal options, or by focusing on higher-paying customers by offering healthy tiffin options such as specialised diet plans, high-protein, and low-fat meals.
What are Legal and License requirements to run a meal prep/tiffin service business in Canada?
There are a few legal and license requirements that you will need to compliant with in order to start home cooked tiffin service business in Canada.
- Register your business with your provincial or territorial government and obtain a Business Number (BN) from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for tax purposes.
- Your food preparation area must comply with the Food Premises Regulation under the Health Protection and Promotion Act.This includes requirements for proper sanitation, food storage, and kitchen equipment. Your kitchen will need to pass a health inspection by your local public health unit before you can start operations.
- If you plan to start your tiffin business from your home check with your local municipal authorities regarding the permits required to operate a home-based food business. You may need a home occupation permit or a special business license.
- Develop and implement a food safety plan based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.
- Obtain appropriate Business Insurance, including liability insurance to protect against potential food-related incidents.
- Comply with Canadian food labelling regulations as provided by Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in detail.
- Some provinces in Canada also require some special licensing for example in Ontario you require Food Handler’s certification in which all the food handlers will be required to complete a food safety training course that is recognised by the local health authority
- For more information check out this interactive site by the Canadian government on licensing requirements.
How to manage quantity or quality of raw materials for tiffin service business?
Sourcing quality materials from trusted suppliers at competitive prices is crucial for your tiffin service. Using fresh ingredients enhances meal taste. Maintain good supplier relations to ensure consistent ingredient supply. Use inventory management software to prevent shortages or waste, especially in Canada, where seasonal availability can impact your menu.
Issues faced in scaling up a Tiffin Service business
Here are few of the major challenges with their solutions which in general a home cooked meals delivery services face when they start to scale up:
Customer Outreach:
When meal prep businesses start to scale up they find it difficult to increase their customer base. There could be several reasons for this:
- Firstly, the limited menu options. You can start providing free add-ons on a trial basis and later if you start getting good response from your current customers you can start including those options in your main meal plans.
- Second reason could be related to poor marketing strategy and low digital footprint of your brand. Start by creating a website and add automated customer sign up forms that directly add your new customers with their plans and delivery notes.
Absence of a well equipped kitchen:
- Once you start scaling up your tiffin service business you will need a commercial kitchen. Therefore you will need to start investing in good equipments that can handle large volumes.
Delivery optimisation:
- Initially, tiffin services manage deliveries well due to a limited number of orders. However, scaling up often leads to issues like delayed deliveries, incorrect orders, and driver errors, causing customer dissatisfaction. Our delivery optimisation software ensures timely deliveries, reduces costs by grouping orders, and minimizes fuel expenses.
Not leveraging technology:
- Start by investing in a good tiffin service management software that helps you with the delivery optimisation and also in managing your customer database. This helps you in reducing your operational costs and reduce manual effort of your staff.
Check out our software tiffy which is a one stop solution to all your problems/challenges we discussed above. It provides you all the services related to managing your tiffin service business under one-umbrella.