March 21, 2022
Have you wondered if you could sell products at your local food cooperative? Join us March 27th, 2023, to hear how to get your food products on the shelves of your local cooperative grocer.
“Getting Your Product on Shelves at Your Local Food Coop,” is a webinar is on Monday, March 27, at 10am, where Chequamegon Bay Food Coop’s Marketing and Membership Coordinator Sara Beadle and the owners of Hermit Creek Farm will share how to sell food products at your local food retail cooperative.
The Chequamegon Food Co-op is a member-owned corporation in Ashland, Wisconsin. With over 3,000 member-owners, the Co-op leverages its relationship with National Cooperative Grocers and many local vendors to stock their 6,000 square-foot store. They’re committed to enhancing the quality of life in their community, and providing the best healthy, organic and locally produced products for their members.
Hermit Creek Farm owners have practiced regenerative farming in Northern Wisconsin since 1993, growing and delivering local organic produce, pastured pork, and grass-fed lamb. They will share how they started selling products at their local food coop.
The UW-Madison Extension Community Food Systems Program is providing no-cost virtual workshops for small-scale food and farming business start-ups every week from March 9th to April 24th.
Register for this event, and the rest of the 2023 Spring FEED Webinar Series online at: https://go.wisc.edu/00487s. All workshops are free to the public and will be hosted on Zoom.
The entire webinar series includes the following sessions:
The first webinar was on Thursday, March 9 at 6pm, “The Sweet Taste of Success: Safe, Value-Added, Maple Products.” We heard from Bill Klase from the UW-Madison, Division of Extension Maple Sugar Program, and from UW-Madison Professor of Food Science, Barbara Ingham, for guidance on food safety planning for food businesses using maple sugar in products such as maple-flavored sauces and dressings, sparkling maple water, and infused maple syrup.
The second webinar was held on Monday, March 13 at 10am, “Selling at the Farmers Market: Case Study of Selling Eggs at the local Farmers Market.” We heard from Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) Food Safety Specialist, an insurance expert from Wallace Cooper & Elliot, and a representative of the Wisconsin Farmers Market Association to learn about how to start the process of becoming a farmers market vendor, using an example of a small-scale chicken farmer selling eggs at their local market.
The third webinar was held on Monday, March 20, at 1pm, “Starting a Mobile Food Business: Working with a Shared-Use Kitchen.” We heard from the director of the FEED Kitchen in Madison, Wisconsin, Chris Brockel, and the owner of Café Costa Rica and Mango Man Salsa about how using a shared-use kitchen can help your food business get started.
The fourth webinar is on Monday, March 27, at 10am. In the session titled “Getting Your Product on Shelves at Your Local Food Coop,” Chequamegon Bay Food Coop’s Marketing and Membership Coordinator Sara Beadle and the owners of Hermit Creek Farm will share how to sell food products at your local food retail cooperative.
The fifth webinar is on Monday, April 3, at 1pm. In the session titled “Getting to Know Your Local Small Business Development Center (SBDC)” we’ll hear from SBDC Business Consultant David Stauffacher about how to work with your local SBDC and how SBDCs across Wisconsin help food entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.
The sixth webinar is on Monday, April 10, at 10am. In the session titled “Navigating Business Resources with the Help of Your Local Business Incubator,” the Community Manager of Co-Lab Adam Accola and the owner of Wild Flour Bakery will share how to navigate resources in the business ideation, startup, and growth stages of business development.
The seventh webinar is on Monday, April 17 at 10am. Ithe session titled “Local Foods – Safe Foods: Starting a Farm- or Home-Based Food Business in Wisconsin,” UW-Madison Professor of Food Science Barbara Ingham will share information on food safety for products made at your farm or home.
The eighth and final webinar is on Monday, April 24, at 1pm. In the session titled “Successfully Find Customers for Your Food Business: Lessons from a Wisconsin Food Cooperative,” we’ll hear from Kelly Maynard, Co-op Development Specialist at the UW-Madison Center for Cooperatives, and a successful local food cooperative about how they found customers when launching their food business and how they have continued to build their customer base while growing the business.
Registration for the event is available online at: https://go.wisc.edu/00487s.
For additional information about the workshops email Jessica Jane Spayde, Food Entrepreneurship Specialist at the Community Food Systems Program at the UW-Madison Division of Extension, at spayde@wisc.edu.
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