GET A TASTE OF SUCCESS AT FOOD VENTURES MARKETPLACE
Region’s specialty food entrepreneurs and their products celebrated at upcoming showcase – just in time for holiday shopping season
ASHEVILLE, NC – The specialties of more than 30 of the region’s finest food entrepreneurs are on the menu of the Blue Ridge Food Ventures (BRFV) Second Annual FOOD VENTURES MARKETPLACE.
The event, to be held Sept. 23 at the BRFV facility on the Enka Campus of Asheville-BuncombeTechnicalCommunity College, showcases a diverse array of food products – from pickled bamboo shoots and lotus snack chips to gourmet jams and sauces, spicy mustard and sweet chocolates.
All of the products are made by small businesses that started or expanded their ventures at BRFV or one of its three sister programs, Creative Food Ventures in AsheCounty, Stecoah Valley Food Ventures in GrahamCounty and Madison Value-Added Center in MadisonCounty.
Two new offerings this year will whet the appetites of Marketplace attendees and provide the chance to get involved in new product development. Brand-new products not yet on the market – or “Appeteasers” – will be showcased in the Coming Attractions section of the event. In another feature, participants can taste and vote on an array of products being developed by BRFV from locally grown fruits and vegetables, which local farmers can make and sell at local tailgate markets.
"More and more consumers prefer locally grown and produced food items,” said Dale Carroll, CEO of AdvantageWest Economic Development Group, the economic development commission for the 23 western North Carolina counties, of which Blue Ridge Food Ventures is a program.
“Fortunately the AdvantageWest Board and our many partners saw this trend and the economic development potential associated with valued-added kitchen incubators like Blue Ridge Food Ventures. We invite everyone to come join us as we celebrate the 100th new food producer in WNC milestone at the Marketplace event on Sept. 23," said Carroll.
In addition to operating a certified 11,000-square-foot kitchen incubator, BRFV provides support to food businesses getting off the ground. It has helped more than 100 food product makers, farmers and caterers in WNC start and grow their businesses since 2005.
"This kitchen facility’s potential is endless,” said entrepreneur Kim Austin, who started her line of Mountain Gal Products at BRFV in 2005. “Blue Ridge Food Ventures has enabled me to open a production company with very little out-of-pocket cost."
FOOD VENTURES MARKETPLACE hours are 3 to 5 p.m. for members of the specialty food and grocery trade, and 5 to 7 p.m. for the general public. Attendees can meet the entrepreneurs, sample their foods, and purchase or place orders for products in time for holiday shopping season.
"As a life-long resident of western North Carolina I can’t imagine a more beautiful or diverse place to live and work." D. Samuel Neill
Attorney-At-Law & AdvantageWest Board Member
