Join us for the only statewide conference to support early-stage Food and Farming Businesses in Wisconsin!
Note: The registration platform will open in a new tab with “FEED Summit” at the top. Please create a username and password to complete your registration.
(See ticket prices here and exhibitor prices here)
November 13 – 14th, 2023 FEED Summit
IN-PERSON CONFERENCE
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Venue: NWTC Corporate Conference Center
2023 Theme: “ADDING VALUE to your food or farming business!”
Previously called the “Edible Startup Summit” (ESS)
About Us
The Community Food Systems Program’s Food Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development (FEED) Initiative is a statewide program that promotes food entrepreneurship training and network development for value-added producers and individuals facing structural barriers to food entrepreneurship.
See all Extension Educators and Specialists who work in the Community Food Systems Program area on our People page.
Do you have questions about the FEED Summit before you register? Watch our brief info session from August 14 where we heard about about the FEED Summit from Jessica Jane Spayde, the Food Entrepreneurship Specialist for the UW-Madison Division of Extension Community Food Systems Program.
Who Should Attend?
ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS in the IDEATION Phase
Entrepreneurs in the ideation phase generally have a great idea, have a skill, or have a key resource or property, but haven’t started selling their goods or services yet.
EARLY ENTREPRENEURS in the STARTUP Phase
Entrepreneurs in the startup phase are generally producing goods or services and selling them to customers. They might not be profitable yet, and might be trying to grow their business. This includes many food and farming businesses in their first 5 to 10 years in business.
Why Should You Attend?
Learn Business FUNDAMENTALS
Entrepreneurs will learn how to start or grow their business through sessions focusing on different parts of business model development. Each session will have speakers who are business experts in the food and farming industry and/or Wisconsin food and farming entrepreneurs who will share their business stories.
Build Business CONNECTIONS
Entrepreneurs will connect with business consultants, service organizations, and other entrepreneurs through interactive sessions, networking activities, and through 1-1 conversations throughout the 2-day conference.
MARKET Your Business
Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to promote their business during the Entrepreneur Showcase session, and be able to speak 1-1 with hundreds of other entrepreneurs and business industry experts.
What is the Schedule?
Monday, November 13th, 2023
| 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM | NETWORKING Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Welcome and Keynote |
| 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM | Expo / Break – VISIT THE EXHIBITORS! |
| 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM | BREAKOUT Session 1 ✹ Breakout Room 1 ✹ Breakout Room 2 ✹ Breakout Room 3 ✹ Breakout Room 4 |
| 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Expo / Break – VISIT THE EXHIBITORS! |
| 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | NETWORKING Lunch |
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Resource Mapping ACTIVITY |
| 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | BREAKOUT Session 2 ✹ Breakout Room 1 ✹ Breakout Room 2 ✹ Breakout Room 3 ✹ Breakout Room 4 |
| 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM | Expo / Break – VISIT THE EXHIBITORS! |
| 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM | BREAKOUT Session 3 ✹ Breakout Room 1 ✹ Breakout Room 2 ✹ Breakout Room 3 ✹ Breakout Room 4 |
| 4:30 PM | Please find your way to the OPTIONAL networking Happy Hour and dinner at TBD local restaurant. |
| 5:00 PM | Happy Hour / Reception |
| 5:30 PM | Optional Tour & Dinner at local restaurant |
Tuesday, November 14th, 2023
| 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM | NETWORKING Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Welcome and Keynote |
| 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM | Expo / Break – VISIT THE EXHIBITORS! |
| 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM | BREAKOUT Session 4 ✹ Breakout Room 1 ✹ Breakout Room 2 ✹ Breakout Room 3 ✹ Breakout Room 4 |
| 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Expo / Break – VISIT THE EXHIBITORS! |
| 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | NETWORKING Lunch |
| 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Resource Mapping ACTIVITY |
| 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | BREAKOUT Session 5 ✹ Breakout Room 1 ✹ Breakout Room 2 ✹ Breakout Room 3 ✹ Breakout Room 4 |
| 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM | Expo / Break – VISIT THE EXHIBITORS! |
| 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM | BREAKOUT Session 6 ✹ Breakout Room 1 ✹ Breakout Room 2 ✹ Breakout Room 3 ✹ Breakout Room 4 |
| 4:30 PM | END OF CONFERENCE – THANKS FOR YOUR ENGAGEMENT! |
| 5:00 PM | OPTIONAL Conference Evaluation Discussion and Feedback Opportunity – Tell us what you think and how we can improve! |
NETWORKING ACTIVITIES
- Networking Breakfast
- Networking Lunch
- Networking Break
- Networking Tour & Dinner
Breakout Sessions
Keynote: Adding Value to Your Food or Farming Business.
Hear one food entrepreneurs’ journey of starting their business and growing it by adding value to their brand, products, and customers!
Food Safety for Mobile Food Businesses.
Speak with the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) licensing specialists about how to navigate the food safety requirements for your mobile food business, such as food cart, food truck, catering, or festival food sales.
Food Safety Requirements in Wisconsin: An Overview.
Speak with the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) licensing specialists about how to navigate the food safety requirements for your food or farming business.
Business Planning.
Attend this workshop to get an overview of how to put together a business plan for your business idea.
Grants Workshop: Creating a Winning Proposal.
How to scope your business idea into a winning proposal.
Grants Workshop: Grant Opportunities for Value-Added Farming in Wisconsin.
What grant opportunities exist in Wisconsin for food and farming businesses?
Sourcing Local Ingredients for Your Food Business.
Learn from local food experts about how to source from local farms. Hear the story of a local food processor who sources his ingredients from local farms.
Facilitator: Val Dantoin
Business Accounting.
What accounting system do you use? Learn from experts a variety of tools and resources to help your business track and achieve financial success.
Calculating Your Costs: Product Development.
How to develop your recipe to reach a realistic price-point for your target market.
Breaking Even: Finding YOUR Price Point.
How to calculate your break even point at different price-points for your product.
Quinoa, Crickets, and Kernza: How to Start a Business in an Emerging / New Market.
What resources and tools exist for businesses where a clear market doesn’t exist yet? Learn about the Emerging Crops Program at UW-Madison Extension.
Local Food & Economic Development.
How to better articulate the economic benefits of local and regional food systems.
Facilitator: Lynn Walter
Shared Use Kitchens in Wisconsin.
How to find and work with a shared use or commercial kitchen to get your business started.
Working with a Business Incubator in Wisconsin.
How to find and work with a business incubator organization to get your business started.
Legacy Planning for Your Business.
Facilitator: Jessica Jane Spayde
What’s your exit plan for your business? Do you want to sell your business one day or pass it to a younger generation? This workshop will help you plan for the legacy you want to leave.
MORE TO COME! STAY TUNED AS WE ADD SESSION INFORMATION!
OFFICE HOURS with the Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic!
Included in your registration fee: up to 30 minutes with legal experts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.
Sign up forms will be posted here by October
Participant Registration Prices
Summit Participant Registration
| Registration Dates | Registration Fee |
|---|---|
| EARLY BIRD PRICING Registering before | A |
| REGULAR REGISTRATION Registering between September 25th – October 13th | A |
SCHOLARSHIPS: The following partnering organizations offer scholarships for this conference. To learn more about scholarships, please inquire at:
- Compeer
- Wisconsin Farmers Union
Exhibitor Registration Prices
REGISTER as an EXHIBITOR HERE by September 15th, 2023!
Exhibitor and Sponsorship Packages
Small Exhibitor Package $750
✹ Small table in Exhibitor Hall, with several hours of dedicated exhibit time to talk 1-1 with hundreds of food and farming entrepreneurs
✹ Company name listed in the program and on the conference website
✹ Contact information listed in the program and on the conference website
✹ Opportunity to add your Company swag in the conference bag
✹ Your Company will be tagged on social media posts and promotions for the FEED Summit
✹ Up to 2 complimentary conference registrations for representatives of your Company
Medium Exhibitor Package $1500
✹ Medium table in Exhibitor Hall, with several hours of dedicated exhibit time to talk 1-1 with hundreds of food and farming entrepreneurs
✹ Contact information listed in the program and on the conference website
✹ Opportunity to add your Company swag in the conference bag
✹ Your Company will be tagged on social media posts and promotions for the FEED Summit
✹ Logo in the program and on the UW-Madison Extension website
✹ 1/4 page promo in the printed program, which will also be posted on the UW-Madison Extension website – viewed by thousands of food entrepreneurs throughout the year!
✹ Up to 4 complimentary conference registrations for representatives of your Company
Large Exhibitor Package $3000
✹ Large table in Exhibitor Hall, with several hours of dedicated exhibit time to talk 1-1 with hundreds of food and farming entrepreneurs
✹ Logo in the program and on the conference website
✹ Contact information listed in the program and on the conference website
✹ Opportunity to add your Company swag in the conference bag
✹ Your Company will be tagged on social media posts and promotions for the FEED Summit
✹ At least 1 Social Media post dedicated to personally thank Your Company
✹ 1/2 page promo in the printed program, which will also be posted on the UW-Madison Extension website – viewed by thousands of food entrepreneurs throughout the year!
✹ Company name recognition and verbal “Thank you” at Keynote
✹ Up to 6 complimentary conference registrations for representatives of your Company
Sponsorship Package $5000
✹ Large table in Exhibitor Hall, with several hours of dedicated exhibit time to talk 1-1 with hundreds of food and farming entrepreneurs
✹ Logo in the program and on the conference website
✹ Contact information listed in the program and on the conference website
✹ Opportunity to add your Company swag in the conference bag
✹ Your Company will be tagged on social media posts and promotions for the FEED Summit
✹ At least 1 Social Media post dedicated to personally thank Your Company
✹ Full page promo in the printed program, which will also be posted on the UW-Madison Extension website – viewed by thousands of food entrepreneurs throughout the year!
✹ Company name recognition and verbal “Thank you” at Keynote
✹ Up to 8 complimentary conference registrations for representatives of your Company
Title Sponsor $15,000 (exclusive)
✹ Large table in Exhibitor Hall, with several hours of dedicated exhibit time to talk 1-1 with hundreds of food and farming entrepreneurs
✹ Logo in the program and on the conference website
✹ Contact information listed in the program and on the conference website
✹ Opportunity to add your Company swag in the conference bag
✹ Full page promo in the printed program, which will also be posted on the UW-Madison Extension website – viewed by thousands of food entrepreneurs throughout the year!
✹ Company name recognition and verbal “Thank you” at Keynote
✹ 5 minutes to promote your business during Keynote
✹ Company logo on the website, next to the FEED Summit title logo (exclusive to Your Company as a title sponsor)
✹ Company logo on the conference bag, next to the FEED Summit title logo (exclusive to Your Company as a title sponsor)
✹ Up to 10 complimentary conference registrations for representatives of your Company
Would you like to be an Exhibitor at Extension’s upcoming FEED Summit (previously known as the Edible Startup Summit) in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Nov 13-14th, 2023?
The FEED Summit is a two-day IN-PERSON summit dedicated to increasing Wisconsin food & farming entrepreneurship. During the summit, entrepreneurs will increase their knowledge of business fundamentals, build their support network of businesses and service agencies, and promote their business services and products.
Engaging with food & farming entrepreneurs has never been easier for you! Because the 2023 FEED Summit is IN-PERSON and has several scheduled NETWORKING activities, you will have the opportunity to engage with every participating entrepreneur!
REGISTER as an EXHIBITOR HERE by September 15th, 2023!
ADDITIONALLY, please consider sponsoring participants so that we can offer scholarships to make this conference accessible to all Wisconsin’s food and farming entrepreneurs. Email Jessica Jane Spayde for questions.
More FEED SUMMIT Details
FEED stands for Food Entrepreneurship Ecosystems Development, and is the major initiative that in Extension’s Community Food System Program. The Feed Initiative has two major education outreach components: the annual Fall Summit (FEED Summit) and an annual Spring webinar series (FEED Webinars).
PREP Sessions
PREP SESSIONS are for anyone who has a role in coordinating, facilitating, speaking, presenting, or exhibiting at the FEED Summit. The purpose of PREP Sessions is to help you prepare by holding space (1) to ensure your familiarity with the conference purpose, audience, expectations, intended outcomes, conference agenda, post-conference follow-up, (2) for you to meet other people involved with the conference, and (3) so you can ask organizers any questions you have.
- PREP Session for SESSION COORDINATORS AND FACILITATORS – October 13, 2022, 10:00 – 11:00 am
- PREP Session for EXHIBITORS – – October 24, 2022, 1:00 – 2:00 pm
- PREP Session for PRESENTERS – November 2, 2022, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Email Jessica Jane Spayde for questions.
Press Kit
See the Press Kit page for the:
- Press Release
- Social Media images
- Graphics and Headings
- QR Codes
- Posters for printing – Save the Date poster
