Do you want to start a food business for students but you want to go niche? If YES, here are 50 best low investment food business ideas & opportunities.
Starting and running a lucrative business in school can be a very hard task, but it is also the best time for young people to set up a business. In school, you have to a great extent the gift of time and proper research facilities. It can be daunting at first, especially when it comes to parting with cash; but with time, it might become the best decision you made in school.
So if you’re thinking of starting a business, it means you have an idea, and more likely than not, this product or service is already out there and is already trading. But, this doesn’t mean it’s not a future billion-dollar company. Note that a lot of successful companies entered the market second and learnt from their competitors’ mistakes.
After you must have researched your competitors and you feel like you still have a significantly different and better product or service, then it’s about time you map out the business in a viable way where it’s easy to assess each area of the market.
Food generally is an essential consumable item. A lot of entrepreneurs these days are seriously on the lookout for profitable and trending food business ideas to start a new business.
Choosing the right niche is the first and most important step for any business initiative. Increasing population and desire to have easy access to food are the factors that create more opportunities in the food industry. Below are 50 food related business ideas to start in school.
Best Food Business ideas for Students
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Blog about Food and Nutrition
In this technology age, blogging is one of the easiest way of making money, if you have sound knowledge of food and nutrition, one of the food services related business ideas that you can successfully start in school is blogging on food and nutrition related topics.
If you are good at what you do and your blog is always updated with helpful posts, you will attract heavy traffic to your blog, and the truth is that the more people that visit your blog, the easier it is for you to attract high paying adverts.
Managing a small catering service is a lucrative school based food business. School is a place of fun and exhibition of youthful wildness, as such, there is bound to be parties all the time in school, thus gives the catering business a great market to prosper.
If have the interest and you love cooking, with some extra hands, you can easily start a catering business in school and provide students with finger foods.
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Cake baking and supply
This business idea is one easy food related business to start and run comfortably in school. If you know how to bake cake, then you should consider starting a business that deals in cake.
Apart from making and selling the cakes yourself, you can also source for suppliers and event planners. No doubt, there is a large market for cakes and if you are hardworking you can gain a fortune from this type of business even as a student.
Fruits and vegetable juices are known to be very good and necessary for the sustenance of good health, and they give relief from thirst like cold beverages.
A lot of people prefer juice instead of other beverages as it is good for the health and has a higher nutritional value. This business can be started with very minimal capital; you just need to meet up with necessary school authorities to verify if the business is acceptable within the institution.
As a student, candy making business idea is an enticing way to turn your hobby and skill into a profitable school based business. Homemade candies are very easy to make and also quite popular. From chocolates to lollipops, children and adults enjoy indulging in candy.
It’s a wonderful idea, so you can consider converting your hobby into a profitable, home-based candy making business. The market for specialty candy is big and is growing globally. It is advisable that you start by taking a candy making class. You will need to develop your unique candy recipe also.
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Organize Cooking Competition
Note that another amazing and easy way of making money from food related services is to organize cooking competition in school. It could be at a community level, state level or national level.
The truth is that if you are good with organizing events and shows, you will be able to attract sponsorship from various organizations. Aside from the sponsorship that you will attract, interested participant should be made to pay registration fees.
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Spice Processing
Spices are a mandatory ingredient in our daily meals, which is why there is such a high demand for them all over the world. Over 30 different types of spices are available in the united states alone, with a production quantity of around 42.68 tons per annum.
Have it in mind that with high demand and high-profit ratio, spice processing can be very lucrative business to start in school.
If you are on the lookout for a retailing business to start with low startup capital, then you should consider opening a Grocery Store in an ideal location within your school community. Indeed a lot of people visit grocery stores to restock their homes from time to time.
This type of business is simple to set up and it is indeed a profitable business. If you decide to start this type of business, make sure you conduct a concrete Feasibility Research in order to know the types of products to stock your store with.
Note that if you stock your store with what people do not need, you will struggle to make sales. You don’t necessarily need to be the person manning your groceries store, you can hire a sales person.
Tea and paper bags are the only two materials that you need to start a tea bag manufacturing business. This business is very easy to start and can be run part time or even full time. Raw materials needed to run this business are easily available at reasonable rates, leaving this niche wild open for anyone willing to take up this opportunity and earn good cash.
If you really love baking cookies, you can start a cookie gift business comfortably in school. Reports have shown that the general gift industry is booming and demand increases on festive seasons. This is a self-rewarding and profitable business any student with a creative mind can start and run successfully.
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Write and Publish CookBooks
In school, it will be far easier to write a book due to the vast availability of resource materials. Just ensure that you do a thorough job in the book so as to simplify the processes of cooking various delicacies and you won’t struggle to sell the book. Don’t forget that the packaging of a book matters so much.
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Make and sell Homemade Snacks
High-quality product, less use of preservatives and lusciousness differentiates homemade food products from the others available in the market. That is why there is a great demand for homemade snacks. You can comfortably make these snacks and sell them to students or even online through an eCommerce site.
This is another enticing retailing business that a student can successfully start and run in and outside campus. If you are looking for a simple but highly thriving small business to start as a student, then you have to seriously consider starting a gourmet retailing business.
Statistics has shown how profitable this business can be and if you want to make the best out of this type of business, then position your gourmet outlet around a cinema, football viewing centre, sports centre and outdoors event centres.
Potato chips are one of the most favourite snacks around the world for a handful of reasons. First, potato chips are very tasty, it is available at a cheap price and it helps to kill the hunger easily. Reports have it that China is the largest producer of potato in the world providing a huge supply of raw material for starting this school based food business.
Frozen yogurt stand is a very lucrative business that can be started with small capital investment. You success in this business will depend greatly on the location and the uniqueness you create with your products. Also note that value-added products are the most crucial issues in being successful in a frozen yogurt business.
This business opportunity differs to a great extent from a normal food restaurant in two major ways. One is you are moving and you don’t have a retail location. Second is you yourself are going to the customers. Note that a student with little or no experience in the food service industry can start and run this business successfully.
From food truck, you can sell frozen and packaged items like ice cream, soft drinks, sweets, and snacks. You can also go for cooked items with a specific menu including for breakfast, brunch and lunch. People with busy work schedules always prefer an instant hygienic cooked food on their doorsteps.
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Soy Sauce Production
The major raw materials needed for soy sauce production are soybeans, wheat and salt. Different types of manufacturing processes are used to produce different types of soy sauce. Soy sauce production can be started as small scale basis also.
Comfortably, you can start a food and nutrition program on radio if you don’t have the financial capacity to go on TV. Usually TV slots are far more expensive than radio slots. You can start by leveraging your school radio and resources.
You just have to make sure you have rich contents and you won’t struggle to attract sponsorship from corporate organizations. Have it in mind that you need to allow guest to call in during live programs to ask questions and also to contribute.
In this age where humans are increasingly becoming aware of their health and nutrition, it creates a demand for the nutritionist.
As a nutritionist, the main service you will be rendering is helping people live longer with good health. This business can be initiated as home based and part time also. You can combine this business with your studies if you can plan yourself accordingly.
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Pickle Making Business
Pickle making is like a heritage in the world and you can give this heritage a commercial face by starting a pickle making business.
It is a much-demanded food business with low investment. You can start this business very small in school, reaching the few students and suppliers available to you, but you can also grow enormously as the demand and market in this business is nowhere near saturation.
One highly interesting and profitable business a student who is interested in making money from the food and agricultural industry should consider starting is fish farming. We all know that fishes are consumed in all parts of the world hence there is a large market for fish.
At different stages on the history of man, quite a few people have made fortunes from fish farming. Before now, people find it easier to rear only catfish, but in recent time fish farmers can comfortably rear tilapias, trout and salmons fish et al. All you need to get started is a space, tanks or ponds, fingerlings and fish feeds et al.
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Peanut Butter Making Business
Just imagine how delicious it is to eat whole grain bread with peanut butter. Indeed it is one favourite food item for it is tasty and healthy too. Kids and adults, especially young students love peanut butter and you can make a fortune by making and supplying this food.
French fries are made with good quality potatoes. They have become very popular in the world market. Apart from domestic demand, the product has an export opportunity also. French fry making business can be initiated as small scale basis in school, but you will have to pay attention to packaging.
Just any individual can start this business right from his/her home location, as long as you are well versed in food and delicacy making. A lot of celebrities and health conscious people generally like to keep personal chefs to have daily healthy and hygienic food. If you enjoy cooking and working for a celebrity, you may start this business right from school.
Frozen foods are quickly gaining demand in world market. This might be due to the change in our lifestyle, as we have very minimal time to cook food. It has in turn increased the demand for frozen foods and created a market opportunity for even a student to run and achieve success.
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Create ‘How to’ Cooking Videos
A lot of people nowadays are starting to understand the various means of making money online. YouTube is one major internet tool individuals are leveraging on to make good money. If you are looking towards starting a food related business, then you should consider going into the production and selling of ‘How to’ cooking videos.
But you have to make sure that you have several recipes on your videos. To attract buyers from far and wide for your videos, ensure that both local and intercontinental dishes are covered there.
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Jam making business
Most people love jam and there’s no telling how huge the niche will grow, especially in a generation with sweet tooth. Jams are tasty to eat, healthy and makes the life easier for moms as you just need to spread some jam over the bread and the early morning breakfast or school lunch is ready. You can start this business comfortably in school and search for suppliers that will sell your products.
One business a student can start and run successfully is the Ice block business. This business is one of the retailing businesses that is relatively easy to start and manage; it is a business that won’t take your time.
With an effective ice block making machine, all you need to do is to employ a sales girl or boy and they will help you handle the business. This business fits in very well into your schedule as a student if you plan very well. It allows you to socialize and enjoy your holidays as a student, whilst making money.
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Peanut Roasting Business
This business simply involves buying raw peanuts from the market and selling them after roasting. Note that roasted peanuts have a much higher price than the raw peanuts. If you are looking forward to an easy and good school based food business idea, this is one from the list.
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Catering Rental Services
Catering rental services is one lucrative food related service business that a student can successfully launch. We believe this type of business is easy to set up and easy to manage. A lot of caterers would once in a while go out of their way to rent catering wares.
Wares such as plates, food warmers, cutleries, table clothes, industrial gas cookers and drums et al are part of the stuffs you should have for rent. This business will be easy to start if you have the wares already or you can specialize your business by renting out just a particular ware, like plates.
A lot of people won’t believe it but in this era of packaged food items, people still like to buy flour directly from the mill, no matter how small, as they are fresh and nutritious.
To start this business, you just need a small place of around 200 sq. ft. with a flour milling machine and one or two workers. This is also one of the very profitable food business ideas with low investment that a student can start and run successfully.
This business is all about helping people deliver foods at different locations. It could homes, offices, hospitals, classes, camp grounds et al. You will be the middle man between canteens, restaurants and caterer et al and the consumers.
This business will surely make you rich especially in school where students would patronize your services. This type of business is simple to start and it needs little or no startup capital. So if you are looking for a low budget food service related business to start, then you should consider registering your own food delivery service.
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Banana Wafer Making Business
Banana is a healthy and much loved fruit in the world, thus giving a great opportunity to the banana wafer making business to prosper. You can start this business and supply them to stores or even sell them directly. This business will surely thrive if you can face the challenges that come with starting a business, especially in school.
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Vegetable Farming
No doubt, this is one unique business a student can go into during holidays. Spinach, lettuce, pumpkin, broccoli, cabbage, and cucumber et al are all vegetables that are consumed in every part of the globe and can also be cultivated in every part of the world.
You have to understand that most agriculture produce are perishable crops hence proper arrangement must be put in place to make sure that they are sold as soon as possible after harvest. Normally in this business, farmers make sure that they make arrangement with buyers before harvesting their crops; it is safer and cost effective.
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Home cooked Food Delivery Business
Indeed individuals who are not always at home crave for home cooked meals. A lot of them don’t have enough time to cook food, thus you can start a home based food business of food delivery to paying guests, offices etc. You can start little with little investment and add more hands and clients as you grow.
If you enjoy shopping, you can build a business as a personal shopper and help others buy groceries and other items. Students can also start this business while still in school. To get started, you need to figure out your demographics which may likely be seniors or people who are handicapped and offer this service to them at your convenience and for a fee.
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Ginger Garlic Paste Manufacturing Business
We get very little time to process food and use it in cooking. Ginger and garlic is needed in most of the cooking items to enhance their taste, the more reason people prefer using ginger garlic paste rather than processing the raw ginger and garlic, making this an attractive food business idea with low investment.
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Biscuit Making
Biscuit making business is very lucrative and can be started as small scale basis. Biscuit making is a conventional activity and a student can run this business with low startup capital also.
Even with the advent of modern, large capacity and automatic biscuit making plants, large section of people still prefer fresh biscuits from local bakeries as they are cheap and offer many varieties.
Chinese dishes are of huge demand all over the world and simultaneously the demand for different types of sauces like tomato, soya, oyster and others has also increased. Hotel, restaurants and food business owners are part of the huge market for sauce across the country. The sauce can be easily prepared at home also.
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Pop-up Restaurant
You need to understand that these are temporary restaurants that often function in odd places such as private homes, roofs of historic buildings, courtyards, former factory spaces and other such odd places. Pop-up restaurants also exist during festivals and concerts.
Have it in mind that these kinds of restaurants usually help individuals to gain exposure for their skills especially in the field of hospitality while also allowing them to gain the experience needed to attract investors. This business is ideal for a student as it lets you experiment with the constraints of funds.
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Onion Paste Manufacturing Business
We all can agree that onion is needed in almost all kinds of cooking. Peeling onions, cleaning them and making a paste out of it in a mixer grinder may be a hideous task and that is why people prefer ready-made onion paste. You can start a business that manufactures onion paste, which is simple as you just need onion, preservatives, good packaging system and equipment to make the paste.
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Retailing of Bread
Bread is largely eaten in all parts of the world and it is easier to find entrepreneurs retailing bread. If you are looking for a food retailing business to do, a business that needs little capital to get started, then you should consider retailing bread.
Note that all you need to do is to secure deliveries of breads from different bakeries and then display them in your store. It is a cool way of making money but you must ensure that you sell them all as fast as you can because breads have short shelf life.
Mobile fruit juice and smoothie truck business is designed to service areas where it might be difficult to quickly construct the conventional fruit and smoothie bar; areas such as carnival sites, construction sites, sporting event centres, campgrounds, beaches et al.
You have to understand that fruit juice and smoothie trucks also take advantage of places like campuses, office complexes, military bases, mechanical village, industrial parks, farmer’s markets, cinemas, and religious centres to sell their fresh juice and smoothie drinks.
44. Hot Dog Stand
A hot dog stand is a food business where hot dogs are sold from an external counter. A hot dog stand can be permanent or semi-permanent.
You should note that most hot dog stands are usually located in public places with lots of foot traffic such as stadium, campuses and shopping mall. Even though a hot dog stand might not be movable, a hot dog cart and truck are usually movable and have a higher advantage because they can move to where the crowd is.
A handful of students might not want to bake and sell chocolate chip cookies, but they would love to bake treats for dogs. If you are one of such, then you should consider a doggie treat business.
Indeed there are a lot of recipes available online for dog bones, doggie cookies and other treats, along with the supplies needed to make a doggie treat business profitable and professional. You can bake and sell these treats at your convenience.
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Coconut Milk Powder Production
Reports have shown that coconut milk powder has a good market potential not only in the United States but also in various other countries. Coconut milk powder comes with the benefit of long shelf life, less storage space and lower cost of bulk packing. Coconut milk powder is one of the most trending food processing business opportunities for new entrepreneurs.
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Concession Stand
A concession stand is simply a snack bar that is located where there is high foot traffic – amusement parks, cinema, fair, campuses, stadiums or other such entertainment centres where customers can buy snacks or food.
Concession stands usually charge higher for their meals because they are conveniently close to an attraction especially as most attraction places do not allow customers to bring in their own meals or drinks plus they also generate significant revenue for the event operator.
Cake decorating is one of the sugar arts that use icing or frosting and other edible decorative elements to make plain cakes more visually interesting.
As a student willing to go down the entrepreneurship route, you can offer your services as a cake decorator to events, bakeries or other customers. You can equally start making and decorating cakes for other people. Since events typically hold on weekends, you can efficiently juggle the business with school activities.
The raw materials needed to start producing custard powder are corn flour, arrow root starch, food colours and essence. Easy availability of raw materials has made this business lucrative and profitable. A small scale unit can also be started by a student with some simple machinery. Custard powder is one of the popular food that is considered as a dessert.
In conclusion,
One of the lies being told in this generation is that students do not have the time to really man their businesses. A lot of successful entrepreneurs started their businesses in school and they are doing very well. The truth remains that when you are equipped with the right information, you will be able to do well in a trade.
But before you can make your decision on which business you want to go into, you must have conducted a thorough Feasibility Research.
Although most of the food service businesses mentioned above have similarities, there are also many differences as well. It is advisable that you consider your personality. Business comes with its own popularity and challenges, but what makes a good entrepreneur is the ability to turn those pitfalls into profits.