The present invention relates to the field of producing starter cultures. In particular, a method for customers in need of a starter culture with a consistent quality, is provided. Specifically, the method involves the use of subsets of a stock inoculum material, which comprises a concentrate of starter culture organism cells to be propagated for direct inoculation of a cultivation medium, to obtain a starter culture whereby the conventional stepwise preparation of inoculum material for the production of a starter culture can be avoided. This novel method can be used for the manufacturing of starter cultures for the food, feed or pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, the method is useful in the cultivation of cells expressing desired products, such as primary and secondary metabolites, including e.g. enzymes and flavours.