MADISON — The Food Finance Institute (FFI) recently welcomed another cohort of businesses into its 2024 Fellows Program. This is year three of FFI’s Fellows Program and year eight of providing programming designed to accelerate food-focused business growth.
FFI’s Fellows Program serves 45 businesses, 30 of whom are from Wisconsin, in two Food Brands cohorts and one Technology, Agriculture and Processing (TAP) cohort that run consecutively for 6-month periods.
The second Food and Beverage cohort began in late June and features ten businesses from Wisconsin and five from across the nation.
- Artemis Provisions and Cheese – Mount Horeb, WI. Family-owned business offering a wide selection of artisanal cheeses and high-quality meats, all processed and curated with the utmost care and tradition.
- Beans and Barley – Milwaukee, WI. Specialty store and restaurant with everything from groceries and gifts, to an all-homemade deli and café with vegetarian and non-vegetarian options.
- Dappled Tonic – Clackamas, OR. Craft tonic water business that produces flavorful local tonic waters made by Oregon distillers. All flavors are a complete non-alcoholic mocktail or are easily paired with distillations.
- Five Pillars Butchery – Unity, ME. Butchery that strives to increase local food production and consumption by sourcing free-rage and pastured meat from independent, family-run farms in Maine.
- Foraged & Found – Ketchikan, AK. Food company that produces unique wild Alaskan provisions while also seeking to revolutionize food systems, promote local manufacturing in Alaska, create jobs, and support mariculture and fisheries.
- Grebe’s Bakery – West Allis, WI. Fourth-generation, family-owned business that has been providing Wisconsinites with fresh donuts and quality baked goods for over 85 years.
- Heart and Seoul Food Co. – Albany, NY. Producer of Korean bone broths and heirloom cooking fats that are regeneratively sourced, regionally processed, and dense with whole-animal nutrition.
- Kaze Human Performance – Milwaukee, WI. Wellness company that produces matcha tea products with strong clinical and traditional support for enhancing everyday performance.
- Kick Ash Products – Ellison Bay, WI. Artisan market and gift shop that produces small-batch granola, coffee, and gluten-free bakery items while also creating space for human connection, collaboration, and support for innovative ideas and passions.
- Mindful Proteins – Vancouver, WA. Sustainable food and beverage company that produces high-protein, functional foods and beverages made from healthy and simple ingredients.
- Rockhopper Ice Collective – Madison, WI. Company that seeks to revolutionize how the world sees and uses ice by offering an array of ice types, each with its unique texture, shape, melting rate, and taste.
- Salvatore’s Tomato Pies – Madison, WI. Craft pizzeria that uses old world techniques, locally made cheeses, and Wisconsin-raised meats to serve artisan pizza and food at its four Madison-area restaurants.
- Slo’ Motion BBQ– Sussex, WI. Premier barbecue catering company that offers catering for various occasions, family meat platters, rubs, and sauces.
- Sueann’s Fresh Foods – Burlington, WI. Food manufacturer provideing Fruit Crackers, Fruit Chips, and Pesto, all prepared starting with fresh food.
- Wild Angel’s Creamery – Cuba City, WI. Farmstead makers of handcrafted mixed milk artisan cheese in the rolling hills of the Driftless Region nestled in the Mississippi River valley in Southwest Wisconsin.
The Fellows Program leads up to FFI’s Food Finance Forum & Expo, an annual event that showcases innovative food and farm businesses, networking, and facilitated discussions on the food and farm investment landscape locally and across the nation. The 2024 Food Finance Forum & Expo will be held on Sept. 26 in Madison, WI. Registration is open now for both attendees and exhibitors.
The Fellows Program, funded by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), combines a modified version of FFI’s foundational financial management boot camp with one-on-one coaching calls and peer group meetings. The program is supported by FFI industry experts like Eurofins (Food Safety), Supply One (Packaging), Ogden, Glazer, + Schaefer (Law), Real Food Brands (Marketing), Product to Retail, Catapult Commercialization Services, Summit Credit Union, Farm Credit and Compeer Financial.
FFI’s Fellows Accelerator program has worked with over 100 companies since 2015. As of 2022, 50 reporting companies, three years after programming, have attracted $1.1 million in grant funding, $11 million in debt funding and $17.5 million in equity funding. In addition, over those three years they have generated over $100 million in business/sales.
Read more about the overall Fellows program at https://foodfinanceinstitute.org/grow-your-food-business/ffi-fellows-program/
About Food Finance Institute
The Food Finance Institute (FFI) leverages and supports a collaborative network of professionals focused on building and funding profitable businesses in the food, beverage and value-added agriculture sector. Through training, coaching, resources, tools and mentorship, FFI fulfills its mission of making sophisticated financial technical assistance available to growing enterprises. In addition, FFI is the home of the Edible-Alpha® brand. Edible-Alpha® is a digital resource hub that includes the Edible-Alpha® podcast and our insights newsletter. FFI is part of the University of Wisconsin System’s Institute for Business & Entrepreneurship. www.foodfinanceinstitute.org of the Edible-Alpha® brand. Edible-Alpha® is a digital resource hub that includes the Edible-Alpha® podcast and our insights newsletter. FFI is part of the University of Wisconsin System’s Institute for Business & Entrepreneurship. www.foodfinanceinstitute.org
