The Hawaii Ag & Culinary Alliance has partnered with Leeward Community College and the Wahiawa Value-Added Product Development Center to create a new incubator program for local food entrepreneurs.
The program, From Cottage Industry to Commercial Enterprise, aims to help Hawaii food businesses — specifically those that utilize locally grown, raised, or caught ingredients — scale their operations.
The Hawaii Ag & Culinary Alliance announced the program in a release issued last week, noting that it will select a total of 15 consumer packaged goods or value-added product businesses for program’s the inaugural cohort. The cohort will run Jan. 31 through April 20, 2023, and applications are due Dec. 30.
In the release, the nonprofit said that selected entrepreneurs will receive a scholarship to Leeward CC’s 12-week bootcamp for food and beverage product businesses. With a focus on marketing and building a food business, the course will feature lessons in topics including regulations for working in commercial kitchens, branding and packaging, sales and distribution, and more.
Program organizers said cohort participants may also be among the first to utilize the forthcoming Wahiawa Value-Added Product Development Center, which is slated for completion next summer.
“This food product bootcamp will be an invaluable resource for anyone who is curious about what it takes to create a value-added food product for the market,” Chris Bailey, WVAPDC manager, said in the statement. “By offering a comprehensive 12-week program that touches upon everything from food safety to e-commerce, we will provide participants a holistic understanding of the industry.”
The Hawaii Ag & Culinary Alliance is the parent organization of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival and Hashi Media, and members of the cohort also will receive mentorship from the festival’s network of food and beverage professionals, chefs, and other industry leaders. Participants also will have the opportunity to showcase their products at the Thirteenth Annual Hawaii Food & Wine Festival in 2023, as well as via Hashi, a digital platform that features food-focused content.
“As we look to diversify our economy and create greater food security and sustainability for our islands, consumer packaged goods and value-added products will be an integral part of increasing demand and production of local agricultural crops,” stated Denise Yamaguchi, CEO of Hawaii Ag & Culinary Alliance. “The From Cottage Industry to Commercial Enterprise program, combined with resources available through the WVAPDC, will be game changing for many of our small batch producers who will now have the resources and tools to scale globally.”
For more information, visit hawaiifoodandwinefestival.com/cottageindustry.
