Something’s Cooking in the Kitchen

Something’s Cooking in the Kitchen

Summary

The project has gathered a group of local entrepreneurs who are interested in developing value-added products. The first year has been spent in organization and education on what it takes to have a food business. The University of Georgia Extension staff presented their “Starting a New Food Business” class locally for any interested person in the community. The regional Small Business Development Center consultant is currently available to assist with business planning and financial resources. As participants previewed their prototype products to each other and worked with the marketing consultant to consider viable packaging it helped them recognize both the limitations and potential of their enterprises.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Eight local entrepreneurs have received consultation from UGA Extension in how to start a food business in Georgia. They have all worked with a marketing consultant to develop packaging concepts that would allow their food products to be sold successfully. Business and financial help is available through a consultant from the Small Business Development Center.

A certified kitchen has been contracted with to provide our participants a legal place to produce their products in the next stage of the project.

The establishment of a partnership with local value-added entrepreneurs, local economic development and regulatory agencies, and other organizations will kick into gear with a “taste testing” and film presentation on local food systems that will be scheduled in early summer of 2009.

Efforts to change state legislation will begin with inviting our state representative and state senator to the “taste testing” scheduled for summer 2009. They both have been informed about the grant and the project and indicated their interest in hearing about the project.

Accomplishments/Milestones

The project has identified and supported eight entrepreneurs who began by looking at the dream of developing a product and are now serious about developing a value-added food business. They have educated themselves, supported each other and are ready to consider implementing production during the second year of the project, first on a trial basis, and then on a larger scale.

The community is aware of the project through newspaper stories and will follow their progress throughout the year.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The impact of taking an idea about value-added food products and bringing it to market will benefit anyone who has thought about doing the same but lacked concrete experience on how to go about it.

The project will educate our local government and economic development folks about the viability of using locally-sourced agricultural products to create marketable, value-added products. Farmers will find an additional outlet for their production and increase their bottom lines as well.

The project will produce a “log” of their efforts that will include summaries of the challenges and where to go for resources.

The education, and hopefully, the support of our legislators will be critical in revisiting the onerous certified kitchen requirements for microprocessors that have made it impossible to move forward with many viable ideas.

Collaborators: