Foodtrepreneur Festival, Reimagined
For four years the Women’s Business Center of Utah organized the Foodtrepreneur Festival to celebrate food entrepreneurs and foodies. The festival comprised of a combination of local food vendors, live music, a panel discussion and the opportunity to sample delicious food while talking to entrepreneurs who created the delectable bites.
Due to the rapid growth of the festival and an all new WBCUtah food-loving team, we decided to reinvent Foodtrepreneur with a new name and a new mission. This year’s festival, Recipe for Success, will last three days! Why three? Because we realized we couldn’t possibly squeeze everything we wanted to do into one day. Where Foodtrepreneur focused broadly on Salt Lake City’s culinary scene, Recipe for Success will focus specifically on women entrepreneurs.
It is an exciting time for food entrepreneurship in Salt Lake City. Companies that start here are gaining national attention, and the economic and cultural impact of this local food movement is both exhilarating and important for the continued growth of Salt Lake City as a cultural and entrepreneurship hub. People have never been more engaged or motivated about where their food comes from, and the stories and visionaries behind it.
What to Expect
During our Kick Off event, we will be celebrating with women entrepreneurs in the food industry. You will have a chance to ask questions in a comfortable setting and mingle with food industry professionals.The kick off will be held at one of our featured women-owned businesses, Salt Lake Culinary Education (SLICE). The center is a community staple, offering fun cooking classes and professional culinary programs while also holding service projects and featuring local art.
Learn more about some of our Kick Off participants:
Local Enthusiast SLC
Trina Perez, owner of Buzzed Coffee Truck
Get Your Product Into Stores!
The second day we are collaborating with a number of fantastic organizations (Utah’s Own, USU Extension and Yoshi’s Japanese Grill) to create three really fun (and necessary) workshops. The morning will begin with a workshop conducted by two experts from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. They will cover everything you need to know to get your product into stores. Navigating the process may be tricky and discouraging for some, but this workshop is meant to simplify the steps in an easy-to-follow format. The workshop will go over labeling and regulatory requirements for foods that are sold directly to the consumer and foods sold wholesale.
Food Truck 101
Everyone has a favorite food truck that feeds their late night munchies and mid-day cravings. Utah’s food truck scene has been rapidly expanding with new and exciting concepts, adding vibrancy to the food community. Starting a food truck may be quite daunting, but it can be a rewarding yet challenging venture. That is why we are excited to have Eddee Johansen, Owner & Operator of Yoshi’s Japanese Grill & the founder of Utah Food Truck CoOp leading our workshop, Food Truck 101. Who better to teach the ins and outs of the mobile food industry? Eddee will go over how to successfully build and open a food truck.
Calculate Profit for Your Food Business
The last workshop will be led by Dr. Karin Allen and Dr. Ruby Ward from USU Extension, who will present an in-depth course on inventory tracking and product pricing. The workshop will explore finance through a food industry lense. It will cover how to successfully calculate profit and analyze costs and margin while tracking inventory and structuring an enterprise budget and successfully pricing your product.
All three workshops are open to the public and will be catered by our client highlight, Meditrina, who will be serving an array of lite, mouthwatering bites. What better way to learn about starting a food business than eating amazing women-owned, local food!
Resource Fair
The week will close out with a resource fair, featuring over 15 organizations that can assist you in starting and growing businesses and resources for anyone entering the food industry. We will have SCORE, NAWBO, Utah Microloan Fund, Square Kitchen, USU Extension, Utah Department of Agriculture and Spice Kitchen Incubator-just to name a few. While you’re there, drop by San Diablo Churros for a sample of their tasty, caramel filled churros and some delicious food from our Spice Kitchen Incubator Entrepreneur highlight!
Whether you are interested in networking with local entrepreneurs, trying delicious food or gaining some resources and how-to knowledge, we hope to see you at Recipe for Success!