Selling My Food to Supermarkets, Distributors, Etc. [Paperback]

Kunmi Oluleye (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2004

An intriguing story of how an African woman chased the American dream, crossing various barriers: cultural, race, gender, faith and issues of being a small business. An easy to follow, strongly recommended guide on issues in getting one's food or product to market. Come along on the author's journey on getting her ethnic cuisines into major supermarkets and other retailers. This book that tells all. It shows pitfalls and offers help at potential crossroads. The book is full of illustrations, questions to guide your thoughts and decision. This well written guide is a must for anyone who has a product that should be sold to the public.

Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: IROK Solutions, Inc. (October 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965480100
• ISBN-13: 978-0965480109
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of time-long infomercial for her food, January 14, 2008

By 

Avid Reader (Miami Beach, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selling My Food to Supermarkets, Distributors, Etc. (Paperback)

Wow. What a waste of time. I'm an avid reader, buy almost all of my books at amazon, but have never written a review. I just had to make sure no one else got fooled by the title of this book.

There is absolutely nothing of use in this book that hasn't already been written in the most elementary "how to start your own business" book already out there. And most likely it's much better edited and presented. In fact, the editor of this book has questionable spelling and grammatical skills to say the least.

I felt completely duped. First of all, her food isn't even in supermarkets. You can only get it online. Come to find out that if I want more information, I could pay for her online seminar. Plenty of Bible and God references. No real, direct advice pertaining solely to how one gets food into the supermarkets. The best advice in her book is to go online and do research. For example, want to know where you can find information on laws and USDA regulations for your food? Go online! Want help? Hire HER for consulting services. Oh, you'll need to get a co-packer because the USDA doesn't allow food cooked in your personal kitchen to be sold to the public. (uh... Duh? )How do you get a co-packer, find a USDA approved facility? I guess I'll have to hire her to find that out because she certainly doesn't tell you in her book. What about labelling, getting nutrional information on your label, going from actually making small amounts in your kitchen to mass-producing? How to bridge that gap? Guess you'll have to hire her services for several hundred dollars an hour. Oh, and if YOU have a RECIPE that you'd like to share with her so she can help you produce it under her label, she'd love to hear from you. And if you'd like to sell her foods, she'd love to hear from you. In fact, if you'd like to help sell her book she'll pay you three dollars a book for that too! She's also available for a myriad other services. This book was one big infomercial.

Bottom - line, this review has given you most of what you need to know about this book. The rest you can, or likely have already found in your library under "how to start a business" or "are you an entrepenuer?". Oh, and don't forget to go to the USDA website. Then you're on your own.

Whoever wrote the first review (and only review thus far), must be her, or someone she knows.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Huge Scam, October 8, 2008

By 

Y. Mikhailov (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Selling My Food to Supermarkets, Distributors, Etc. (Paperback)

I have never written a review before on Amazon, but after ordering and reading this "informational booklet" I felt compelled to follow in the footsteps of the reviewer below and voice my distaste. This book absolutely no concrete guidance on figuring out any of the often difficult and daunting questions potential entrepreneurs face. I currently work at a small food manufacturing business and hoped that reading another person's tales of success would inspire me with new ideas or, at the very least, teach me something new. This book did neither.

In between references to God, Jesus, and how Christianity ultimately leads to success, I found the most obnoxious self-promotion. This book seems to have two goals in mind: 1) Promote the author's line of foods and 2) Scam other African immigrants who wish to succeed into seeking the author's business services.

The review below is spot-on. No one, I repeat, NO ONE should read or buy this book. In fact, after this book I can guarantee you I will never try "Sheba Stew" or "Jollof Rice."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Selling my food to Supermarkets, Distributors, August 27, 2009

By 

Multi-industry business exec - See all my reviews

This review is from: Selling My Food to Supermarkets, Distributors, Etc. (Paperback)

This is absolutely the worst book I have ever read. The Simmons School should revoke her MBA. Pathetic, whigning, self-serving, major chip on her shoulder and amateurish are the best words to describe the author's (sic) perspective and tone. The reveiwer that gave her a 5 can only be a relative, or paid for the gesture. Fortunately I didn't get the hard copy so I didn't waste any paper. There was nothing of value whatsoever. I can only imagine that her expose on dealing with WMT will also be one of "big business and store managers in America" are bigots because they wouldn't carry my products. They may very well be good products, but if not enough people want to buy them (i.e. critical mass and frequent inventory turn-over), well, shelf space is just to valuable. It's the way the free market works. I wish her well selling herself and her products through her website. Just don't buy her books.