Tours, Panels, Expo, Happy Hour Highlighted 40 Growing Businesses
Wisconsin’s food and farm business sector took center stage at Garver Feed Mill in Madison, WI, Sept. 25-26, during the third annual Food Finance Forum and Expo. The Food Finance Institute’s signature annual event brought together more than 100 innovative food, beverage, and farm entrepreneurs and experts to celebrate and replicate food business growth strategies. Their delicious products were featured at an all-new expo featuring 40 food businesses from our region.
“The Food Finance Forum and Expo was an incredible opportunity to connect the ecosystem of food businesses, service providers, and consumers in our state and region all in one place,” said FFI Director Sarah Larson. “In addition to hearing success stories from entrepreneurs and expert views on topics such as creating and funding investible businesses, sustainable food and the future of food and farm retail, we launched Naturally Wisconsin as our latest program to accelerate the success of natural and organic entrepreneurs.” FFI launched Naturally Wisconsin as a chapter of the Naturally Network, the national association for the natural and organic consumer products industry.
Keynote speaker Corinne Shindelar, principal of All Natural Strategies and chairperson of the board of Naturally Minnesota, announced the launch of Naturally Wisconsin while highlighting the importance of natural, organic, and sustainable products to today’s consumers. Keynoter Sam Rikkers of Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. connected the growing economic power of Wisconsin’s food and farm businesses with our state’s history.
The Food Finance Forum and Expo also featured expert panels, a four-stop food business tour, and an expanded exhibitors’ expo. Throughout the Forum and Expo, attendees heard from participants in the FFI Fellows program, a one-year accelerator that has helped more than 200 local food, beverage, technology, value-added agriculture, and processing businesses grow and thrive.
Since participating in the FFI Fellows program, Madison-based candied pecan maker Fortune Favors rebranded and grew 60-100% each year for six years, purchasing a new production facility and gaining distribution in major grocery chains. Fortune Favors hosted one of the event’s food business tours and exhibited at the expo.
“For us, the FFI Fellows program was a business accelerator like no other because we got invaluable expert advice at no cost to us, other than our time to put in the work,” said Fortune Favors CEO Sam McDaniel. “If you’ve never run a packaged goods or food company, like we hadn’t, you have no idea the complexity you will face. Having a trusted network of fellows can mean life or death for businesses like ours.”
The energy in the exhibit hall was felt throughout the day from peer to peer connections, to conversations with buyers like four-store cooperative Outpost, and connection with stakeholders. “I didn’t realize how much we needed an event like this to feel connected to our peers,” said McDaniel. “I wish I had brought more of my team, and will definitely do son next year!”
Read more details about the speakers, exhibitors, food tours, and agenda here.
