21 Acres Intro to Food Processing

This is a Core Course in the 21 Acres School “Eating Series.”

This is a one-day course, meeting on May 30, for 7.5 hours, at 21 Acres.

Wednesday, May 30, 9 am – 4:30 pm

Description

Are you interested in launching your own specialty food business but overwhelmed about where to start? Or, have you started, but you need encouragement and help to overcome barriers? If so, then this is the class for you. Learn about processing food, including preservation of value-added farm products. Entrepreneur and special food business owner, Dale Nelson, will teach you the following:

·     Gain an understanding of the specialty foods market -- Learn what entrepreneurial skills are needed to be successful and how to build the proper expertise.

·     Explore a business framework – Understand the benefits and drawbacks of sole proprietorship, LLC, standard corporations and partnerships.  Become familiar with the accounting side of a specialty food business.

·     Developing specialty foods -- Just what does it take to bring your product to market? 
Learn from case studies. Meet people who own their own specialty food businesses and gain from their experience.

·     Marketing specialty food – Develop a strategy for wholesale and retail relationship-building, including how to bring foods to grocers and farmers markets.  Determine what role social marketing can play to generate sales and how to build demand from the web.

·     Plus, How to keep it all going – Starting a business is one thing, but keeping it going is another.  Get a jump start on your business plan and begin drafting it during class.

During this course, students work as a group on sample products, including food formulations, modeling a test batch and learning how to meet county and state regulations.

Expert Faculty

Dale Nelson has 25 years of experience in the food business and a true passion in the artisan food environment. Dale is owner and founder of Food Concepts, Inc. (a full-service specialty food development company in Washington State) and Woodring Northwest. Founded in 1991, the company drew upon Dale's expertise in product innovation and a desire to create a quality specialty food experience, establishing the diverse organization that exists today.

Enrollment & Registration

In order to take our courses students must first enroll in the 21 Acres School as a student. Enrollment is $45 for a two year period. Enrollees receive advance notice of class availability and on occasion special discount offers on classes. There are three ways to register; online at http://introtofoodprocessing.eventbrite.com, by e-mailing deb@21acres.org or by calling us at 425-481-1500.

Membership

Join 21 Acres and save — Fees are discounted for members for most courses and classes by 10%, 15% or 20% depending upon membership level. 

21 Acres Certificate
This course qualifies for our Sustainability Stewardship Certificate. Enroll, register for this class and receive credits towards your certificate.

Watch for notices about upcoming courses related to this theme. For more information, visit www.21acres.org.

If you have questions, please contact us: (425)481-1500, generalinfo@21acres.org, www.21acres.org.

When	May 30, 2012 from 09:00 am to 04:30 pm
Where	21 Acres Center for Local Food and Sustainable Living
Contact Name	21 Acres
Contact Email	generalinfo@21acres.org
Contact Phone	425-481-1500
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