March 30, 2010 – Turning Family Recipe Into Marketable Product Is Focus of April Workshop
Have a favorite family recipe you think is marketable? How about the salsa or jelly you give to your friends? Want to test your product? A free workshop sponsored by the Women’s Business Center (WBC) of Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma, Inc. (REI) will address how to move your specialty food product into the marketplace. The workshop will be held April 8 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the REI Conference Center, 2912 Enterprise Blvd., Durant.
The workshop will provide answers to questions like “how or where” to begin the process of developing a product and what to expect in the process. There will be an overview from Andrea Graves, Oklahoma State University Food & Agricultural Products Center about what assistance is available to entrepreneurs who have a food product they wish to market. Ms. Graves works closely with entrepreneurs in the development of products for the food service industry and currently serves as Chair of the Oklahoma Culinary Research Alliance.
“A taste test is one of the first steps in getting the food product to the consumer,” said Dr. Barbara Rackley, WBC coordinator. “That’s why we are strongly encouraging participants to bring samples of their food product to the workshop and we also think it will add a bit of fun to the event.”
The session will conclude with a tour of REI’s commercial kitchen, available for short or long term lease to food entrepreneurs. This spacious licensed 2,500 sq. ft. facility is designed to allow food entrepreneurs to produce their specialty quicker and ultimately move it onto the shelves in the marketplace. Users may pay by the hour to take advantage of special long term use rates.
The kitchen has an impressive list of equipment including double convection oven, freezer/refrigerator, tilting kettle, 60-inch range, deep fryer, food processor, and much more. High speed internet, meeting rooms and office space are extra features.
While this is a free workshop, registration is encouraged and may be made on-line at www.ruralenterprises.com. For more information call Dr. Barbara Rackley or Lori Smith at 800-658-2823.
Workshop co-sponsors are OSU Extension, Durant Area Chamber of Commerce, Durant Main Street, Choctaw Nation, Oklahoma Small Business Development Center, SE Center for Economic Development and REI’s Women’s Business Center, funded in part by the U. S. Small Business Administration.