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Dropshipping Food: Pros, Cons, Alternatives

By Timur Y.

Dropshipping food related products is a great idea for a new business.

Food is one of the basic products people need, so one may think that dropshipping food is a great idea. However, this niche has its own issues. On the other hand, AliExpress offers tons of food related products you can dropship.instead!

Is it a good idea to dropship food?

Eating, drinking and sleeping are basic needs, which means people buy food no matter where they live or what culture they represent. Therefore, it may seem like a good idea to sell food online, and many businesses already deliver food and beverages. So why not try dropshipping it?

In theory, the idea sounds great: you don’t need to buy food in advance nor store it in a huge fridge. You simply sell it on the web and tell the supplier / manufacturer to deliver it. However, there’s a number of problems.

  1. Most food products can be purchased in a regular supermarket. Besides, some stores can now deliver wares when you order them online. And so do restaurants, which is why neither of them really need a dropshipping business as a mediator.
  2. You may think: if I can’t go local, how about international trade? Many people will be interested in exotic food products from different countries! Yes, but most people will be afraid to order products from unknown manufacturers. Furthermore, even canned food can spoil quickly if you don’t store them properly.
  3. Lastly, some countries have strict licensing requirements, so even if you manage to sell a product, it may not pass the customs.

Although this niche does exist, dropshipping food is still very risky and complicated, which is why you should think really carefully before trying it. As for dropshipping from AliExpress, food products were banned several years ago (due to licensing issues).

However, there are many food related products on AliExpress you can use to expand your store’s offer. Let’s take a look at them.

Dropshipping pet food

Although AliExpress banned food products for humans, it still sells food for animals. According to my little research, food for dogs and cats isn’t that popular. Besides, such goods are quite expensive, and I wouldn’t expect a lot of people to want them.

However, food for fish, turtles and similar pets sells better and some sellers offer free or affordable shipping options including ePacket. Here are some examples:

Fish Food Tablet

Fish-Food-Tablet.png

Price – US $0.89-2.99; rating – 4.8; number of orders – 1954

Ant Food

Ant-Food.png

Price – US $2.40-3.70; rating – 4.7; number of orders – 507

Turtle Food

Turtle-Food.png

Price – US $1.33; rating – 4.8; number of orders – 259

Although there are not so many products like this on AliExpress, you can still use them to expand the inventory if you have chosen to dropship pet supplies.

Even if you can’t sell pet food, there are plenty of related products including bowls and food dispensers.

Cat Bowl

Cat-Bowl.png

Price – US $11.07; rating – 4.9; number of orders – 2575

Pet Food Dispenser

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Price – US $2.84-12.70; rating – 4.7; number of orders – 1708

Dog Treat Bag

Dog-Treat-Bag.png

Price – US $7.13; rating – 5.0; number of orders – 370

Dropshipping cooking tools

This is probably the most popular food-related product type as lots of people cook at home. And they require modern tools that can make the process faster and easier. You can offer dozens of products from regular knives to exotic tools. And all of them sell really well on AliExpress.

Mini Mixer

Mini-Mixer.png

Price – US $2.15; rating – 4.7; number of orders – 8736

Silicone Cooking Tools

Silicone-Cooking-Tools.png

Price – US $3.27-3.77; rating – 4.9; number of orders – 4111

Silicone Baking Molds

Silicone-Baking-Molds.png

Price – US $4.47; rating – 4.8; number of orders – 2962

Fish Scale Scraper

Fish-Scale-Scraper.png

Price – US $1.65-2.81; rating – 4.5; number of orders – 2336

Dropshipping food containers

It’s another subcategory of food related goods. Plastic containers and lunch boxes can be used both in the kitchen and outdoors when you go to a picnic or have to eat in the office. That’s why such products are quite popular on AliExpress.

Plastic Food Container Set

Plastic-Food-Container-Set.png

Price – US $8.29; rating – 4.7; number of orders – 414

Thermos

Thermos.png

Price – US $31.96-81.99; rating – 4.7; number of orders – 493

Lunch Box

Lunch-Box.png

Price – US $19.12-23.85; rating – 4.8; number of orders – 1607

Spice Jars

Spice-Jars.png

Price – US $47.54; rating – 4.9; number of orders – 193

Dropshipping kitchenware

And of course, where there’s food, there are dishes! On AliExpress, one can find hundreds of plates, mugs, bowls and cups with any design you can imagine.

Travel Cutlery Set

Travel-Cutlery-Set.png

Price – US $9.13-12.52; rating – 4.7; number of orders – 1594

Wood Plates

Wood-Plates.png

Price – US $11.99-75.99; rating – 4.8; number of orders – 726

Cute Children’s Plates

Cute-Children’s-Plates.png

Price – US $3.30; rating – 4.8; number of orders – 482

Coffee & Tea Cups

Coffee-Tea-Cups.png

Price – US $3.63-11.10; rating – 4.8; number of orders – 2308

Lastly, AliExpress sellers offer lots of funny stuff including items related to food. Although such goods aren’t numerous, some of them are very popular among buyers, and the products feature decent quality. Take a look at some of them:

Tortilla Blanket

Tortilla-Blanket.png

Price – US $14.84-49.80; rating – 4.8; number of orders – 4586

Pizza Female Ankle Socks

Pizza-Female-Ankle-Socks.png

Price – US $2.06; rating – 4.6; number of orders – 232

Beer T-Shirt

Beer-T-Shirt.png

Price – US $8.99-11.99; rating – 4.4; number of orders – 403

Burrito Baby Blanket

Burrito-Baby-Blanket.png

Price – US $9.84-15.17; rating – 4.8; number of orders – 2167

Food Print Cushions

Food-Print-Cushions.png

Price – US $22.65; rating – 4.7; number of orders – 343

Conclusion

Selling food in a dropshipping store is associated with a lot of risks. However, you can still build your business around food-related products. They are much safer to dropship and are very popular among customers.

Want to start a dropshipping business with no effort? Order a custom store built on the niche of your choice with pre-edited products installed and fully ready for promotion.

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By Timur Y.
Timur holds a Ph.D. in Philology and works as a senior copywriter at AliDropship. He's been writing articles on ecommerce and dropshipping for more than 3 years and is keen to create easy-to-read educational content for ecommerce newcomers and beginners in dropshipping.
view comments (4) hide comments (4)
Johnny 5 years ago

Great Idea.
Thank you.

Aru 5 years ago

eyes opened ..Thank you 🙂

Faisal 5 years ago

Wow this make me really courageous and I think I am ready to take my first step.

Timur Y. 5 years ago

Good to go! And good luck too!:D

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