Finding product market fit of my food

Ultimately it comes down to what I want to serve people. Finding product market fit is important for any business to run because it runs on what people want and are willing to pay for. Therefore, I see product market fit in the food business as an intersection between what I want to serve people, and what people want. What people want is so diverse and I cannot possibly cater to every want. In fact, I may not even want to serve certain wants, such as the use of food colouring, or ultra processed food that doesn’t sit well with me. I like to serve fresh food prepared with minimal additives and mostly using cooking techniques to bring out the desirable flavours.

How I foresee carrying this out is to do a survey in 2 stages. First, it’s to survey people what they want to see in a dish, say Nasi Lemak. Tell me what does an ideal nasi lemak taste like. What does it come with? How spicy or lemak should it be? Once I gather the data, I make a few samples at home using how and what I want to serve people, and then let people try it again and gather feedback. From there, I can find out if what I serve really fits what people want, and adjust based on their feedback.

The feedback I get also depends on the people I ask. Some people just love processed food, others are vegetarians and don’t take meat. In reality I wouldn’t know who would actually appreciate my food, so I think from the initial sample of people, I should use it as the “general population” survey, and invite more people from the favourable groups. For example, if young adults like my food and I particularly enjoy serving them, I could do a second round survey inviting young adults only. Whereas if my target audience is children or senior adults, I could also reach out to them only. Ultimately it comes down to finding the fit between what I want to serve, and who really appreciates them.