Selling food items through ecommerce site from India to the world?

Question

Hi friends,
I am helping a friend of mine who has a traditional family business of manufacturing pickles and papads (a kind of roasted flatbread) to set up an ecommerce store. Since this ia a food item, I am not sure about any compliance requirements under FDA and if at all that is applicable while selling online from India. Any inputs will be much appreciated.

Thanks and have a great weekend.

Answer 1

FDA isn't much of a problem as these would be considered direct sales of farm produce. What kills you is the postage costs from India to anywhere in the world. I commonly see saris for $6.99 USD but the postage is $25.00.

Here is a good site for food handeling guidelines for direct sale of produce:
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Ecomm/foodbiz.html

One idea to beat the postage costs is to sell large amount-full cases- to other on-line specialty food websites. There are lots of them and you could probably get some interest that way. Expect to send out quite a few free samples before anyone orders.

Good luck in this new project!