We partner with other UW-Madison and Extension programs, including Community Economic Development, Farm Management, the Food Financing Institute, and the Food Research Institute, to provide Food Business Development programs. We connect small-scale food and farm entrepreneurs with business services providers and research-based training and resources on topics such as food safety and licensing. We are working to ensure that our programs and resources are culturally responsive and available in multiple languages.
The annual FEED Summit helps engage food and farming entrepreneurs in learning about business fundamentals, connecting with business experts and other entrepreneurs, and marketing their business products and services. Learn Business Fundamentals To engage food and farming entrepreneurs in learning about business fundamentals, the FEED Initiative uses the business model canvas as the organizing framework […]
I am the statewide Food Entrepreneurship Specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension Community Food Systems Program. Recently, I visited the beautiful Thursday night farmers market in Burlington, Wisconsin. While visiting the market, I had the pleasure of meeting several food, farming, and craft vendors. They were selling fresh produce, drinks, cooked food, […]
I am the statewide Food Entrepreneurship Specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension Community Food Systems Program. Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting the Bank of Cashton with Mara Keyes, the Southwest Project Director at WWBIC. The Bank of Cashton’s President Scot Wall shared the Bank’s vision of their new commercial kitchen […]
By working together, entrepreneurs can create connections to new suppliers or buyers, reduce costs through bulk purchasing, reduce operating costs, share insight, support each other, better leverage technology, etc. Learn from UW Center for cooperatives, SLO farmer coop (and others) for insight about cooperatives to benefit your business and your community.
Whether you are sharing space at a local restaurant, producing your product at an incubator kitchen, renting space in a church or other shared-space arrangement, this session will highlight key considerations for business success.
Whether you are starting with an idea, or have an existing food business, UW-Madison Extension expers will walk you through the basics of beginning or expanding a food business in Wisconsin.
Thinking about starting a home-based food business Learn from UW-Madison Extension experts about opportunities for adding value to your farm products, or for preparing foods in your home kitchen for sale. We will look at a variety of licensing exemptions for sales on-farm and for making products in your home kitchen.
To help licensed Wisconsin food cart and food truck vendors implement best practices during the COVID-19 emergency, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension Food Systems Program and the City of Madison developed the COVID-19 Resource Guide for Licensed Food Cart and Food Truck Vendors in Wisconsin.
