Expert: Jim Gawley - 11/15/2008

Question
I am a college student working on a marketing project.  The mock product I am marketing is a fruit smoothie drink, similar to Naked or Odwalla.  How do I find out how much it costs to produce such a product, and then to distribute it to the market (grocery stores, etc)?  I cannot find any information on this, and the above companies will not divulge it to me.

Answer
Mary,

You may want to try contacting someone at USDA's Economic Research service  http://www.ers.usda.gov/

The Census of Manufacturing Industries may also help get you a ballpark # http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/INDRPT31.HTM

They at least can give you the difference in the cost for raw materials vs. the cost of the finished goods as an industry. You could use that as your margin.

Associations like GMA http://www.gmabrands.com/ and The Food Institute www.foodinstitute.com may also be able to help.

Regards,
Jim