Class: So you think you want to launch a food business?
Back to Classes + Events CalendarClass: So you think you want to launch a food business?
- date: April 6, 2019
- time: 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Getting Started with Food Business Basics
Have you always thought about bringing a product to market? Do you have a special recipe or creative food idea, and an entrepreneurial bent, but just not sure where to begin? If so, then this class can help you get started!
Join us at 21 Acres in our Certified Commercial Kitchen and learn from successful business woman and local food expert, Devra Gartenstein.
Throughout the two hours of this class, Devra will address:
Where do you go to find all the resources you need so you don’t miss anything?
How do you navigate the licensing processes with the county or the state?
How do you find affordable ingredients?
How do you work with regulators to develop an approved product?
Where do you find a commercial kitchen and how much do you pay?
Where do you find help with a logo and labels? Do you need barcodes and nutrition facts?
How do you find enough customers? And, make sure they’re the right customers?
And, of course, the most important question of all:
Can you make a living at a food business?
In just two hours you’ll have a good lay of the land and confident understanding about what steps you need to take to start a viable food business. Plus, enjoy a light lunch from Patty Pan Cooperative, a successful Seattle-area prepared food and catering business that makes the most dynamite products while providing a living wage and solid revenue returns for its staff.
Come, learn! We guarantee this class will save you significant time and money in determining just whether starting a food business is a path you want to take.
Instructor: Devra Gartenstein
Devra Gartenstein has run small food businesses in the Seattle area since 1987, including Patty Pan Cooperative, the city’s oldest farmers market concession. She teaches cooking classes through PCC, and mentors small business owners through SCORE and the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives.
Agenda:
What will you make?
• Packaged products
• Catering
• Concessions
• Restaurants
• Meal delivery
Who will you sell them to?
• Wholesale vs retail
• Defining a target market
Where will you make them?
• Cottage kitchen vs commercial kitchen
• Kitchen certification and licensing
• Economy and scale
Where will you source your ingredients?
• Short and long term strategies
• Direct sourcing
• Distributors and food hubs
• Big box stores
• Defining priorities and making thoughtful compromises
How will you package your product?
• Sustainability
• Price
• Freshness
• Marketing message
• Required information
Pricing
• Fixed and variable costs
• Price point and marketing message
• Setting and maintaining margins
Earning a living/Running a business
• Understanding the technical, managerial, and entrepreneurial hats
• Making friends with bookkeeping
• Short, medium, and long term planning
• Writing a business plan
• Support and resources
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13701 NE 171st Street,
Woodinville, WA 98072 -
Call us at 425-481-1500 - © 2021 21 Acres. All Rights Reserved.
The 21 Acres Center for Local Food & Sustainable living is a global leader in sustainable & regenerative practices, serving as a living laboratory & learning center for conscious consumers who want to learn new, more sustainable ways of living.
