The Biz Behind the Food Biz

From a Winning Recipe to a Winning Business

All across kitchens in Western North Carolina, thousands dream of using Grandma’s generations-old recipe to become the next Mrs. Fields or Ben & Jerry’s. Tinkering with food combinations and formulas, they fine-tune the ingredients and proportions to craft a winning recipe. But going from winning recipe to a winning business requires an entirely different set of ingredients: financing, inventory sourcing and management, production, compliance (FDA), legal issues, packaging and marketing.

Learning the behind-the-scenes basics of building a successful food-based business is the focus of “The Biz Behind The Food Biz: from Winning Recipe to A Winning Business,” a two-day program for individuals considering a food-based start-up, co-hosted by Blue Ridge Food Ventures and the Asheville Center for Professional Studies.

The series, scheduled for November 6 and 7, 2014, will feature fellow food-based business owners who are working “in” the business and experts working “on” the business: accountants, attorneys, grocery store executives, marketers and financing representatives.

The series will be held at Asheville Center for Professional Studies, 1465 Sand Hill Road, Candler. Cost to attend the 16-hour program is only $375, and registration is available online at www.AshevilleProfessionalStudies.com.

“The Biz behind the Food Biz” comes at a time when sales of specialty foods are reaching an all-time high. According to the Specialty Food Association, the sector now commands $ 88.3 billion in annual sales, a 47% increase since 2008, with 18.4% growth since 2011. Eighty percent of these sales are at the retail level, and the major driver (70%) for the growth is the demand for locally made products. Compounding the challenges for growth is the increased competition for shelf space in grocery stores. Consumer Reports notes that there are now some 47,000 products on grocery stores shelves.

“Grandma’s great tasting recipe is no longer the sole determining factor in whether a business succeeds,” notes Chris Reedy, Executive Director of Blue Ridge Food Ventures. “While consumers appreciate locally sourced foods, they also now have a level of sophistication and expectation with their food purchases. Our goal is to help educate individuals on all facets of taking their food-based business from the kitchen to the check-out counter.”

Blue Ridge Food Ventures is an 11,000 square-foot shared-use kitchen and natural products manufacturing facility that offers support in product development, guidance through government regulations, bottling and packaging equipment, and marketing and design advice. More information is available at www.advantagewest.com/food-and-natural-products.

The Asheville Center for Professional Studies is affiliated with the Education and Entrepreneurial Development Foundation. It offers a wide variety of leadership, entrepreneurship, career-development, and professional and technical training and certification.

November 6 & 7 Programs

Thursday, November 6
9-11 a.m. – Panel Discussion: Successful food-based business owners
11 a.m.-12 noon – Compliance: Local, State and Federal Regulations.
1-3 p.m. – Been There Done That: Food-based business owners share their steps and mis-steps in building their companies.
3-5 p.m. – Commercial Kitchen Tour: Blue Ridge Food Ventures

Friday, November 7
9-11 a.m. – Marketing
11 a.m.-12 noon – Funding & Support: An overview on what financial options are available
1-3 p.m. – The View: From the other side of the grocery shelf.
3-4 p.m. – Now it’s YOUR Turn: Participant Tastings

For more information, contact Katherine Morosani at [email protected] or (828) 398-7100.