{"id":881,"date":"2016-04-04T07:09:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T11:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/?p=881"},"modified":"2016-04-05T09:52:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T13:52:00","slug":"good-food-spotlight-recap-march-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/2016\/04\/04\/good-food-spotlight-recap-march-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"GOOD FOOD SPOTLIGHT RECAP: MARCH 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The

The audience listens on at a recent Good Food Spotlight held at Brooklyn FoodWorks.<\/p><\/div>\n

From Shark Tank to Foundermade\u2014food entrepreneurs are getting more stage time to present their businesses to investors and audiences, but the Good Food Spotlight, co-produced by Foodstand and Slow Money NYC, has been a monthly staple for good food\u00a0entrepreneurs.\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n

This month, the Good Food Spotlight<\/a>, co-produced by Foodstand and Slow Money NYC, convened at Foodstand\u2019s Headquarters on 5th Avenue to gather together for their monthly pitch fest.<\/p>\n

The crowd was larger than the last by at least two dozen people\u2014a testament to the growing hunger and excitement around food entrepreneurship. Over 100 people\u2014ranging from fellow food entrepreneurs and investors to food writers and straight up food-interested folk\u2014buzzed about the smorgasbord of food, provided by <\/span>Local Roots NYC<\/span><\/a>, a pick-as-you-please CSA, and artisan cheese supplier, <\/span>Murray\u2019s Cheese<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The concept of Spotlight is elegant yet simple. As <\/span>Edible Manhattan<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>earlier described, \u201cEntrepreneurs can pitch their businesses to a panel of experts for feedback in front of a supportive crowd, or book short, private appointments with an industry expert.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the place to find exciting food products and services that are really startups…The real time tweets on the screen behind the presenter form a mosaic of Haiku market consumer intelligence and insights,\u201d said Richard Gray, a seasoned food vet who has worked with the likes of Vital Choice Seafood, Balducci\u2019s and Organic Avenue\u2014and who was a first-time panelist and coach after attending an earlier Spotlight. \u201c[T]here\u2019s a lot of insights and professional feedback for the presenters,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThis is the place to find exciting food products and services that are really startups…The real time tweets on the screen behind the presenter form a mosaic of Haiku market consumer intelligence and insights.” ~ Richard Gray<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Businesses of any size can <\/span>apply<\/span><\/a> to be a part of Spotlight\u2014from those who are just starting out\u2014like <\/span>Bija Bhar<\/span><\/a>, one of the presenters from the evening who creates organic, minimally-processed, portable, superfood products at newly-minted <\/span>Brooklyn FoodWorks<\/span><\/a>, to Kickstarter breakouts like Omar Rada\u2019s <\/span>Misen<\/span><\/a>, which crowdsourced $1.1 million for a snazzy, affordable chef\u2019s knife\u2014to well-capitalized or well-on-the-path companies, like<\/span> BonBite<\/span><\/a>, which is a local, sustainable lunchbox and catering business that already services the likes of Etsy, Vogue and Casper.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The

The judges in March\u2019s Good Food Spotlight panel weigh in. From L-R: Yusha Hu (Local Bushel), Devita Davidson (FoodLab Detroit) and food pioneer Richard Gray.<\/p><\/div>\n

Other presenters from the evening included <\/span>Jalapajar<\/span><\/a>, a Smorgasburg-crowd fave salsa company, to whom Gray suggested and encouraged owning the \u201cbreakfast salsa\u201d category; <\/span>Barley and Oats<\/span><\/a>, a meal delivery service incubated out of the <\/span>Hot Bread Kitchen Incubator<\/span><\/a> and designed specifically to support mothers throughout pregnancy to postpartum, which Gray heartily announced is, \u201ca winner!\u201d; and <\/span>Spread-mmm’s<\/span><\/a>, a definitively cheeky olive tapenade hand-crafted in Harlem, which gave the crowd a few good laughs.<\/span> \u201cThe police lady\u2026\u201d<\/span> first-time panelist and Co-director of <\/span>FoodLab Detroit<\/span><\/a>, Devita Davidson said, motioning over to the Spread-mmm\u2019s logo. \u201cI\u2019m trying to figure it out\u2026Is that like when the police say, \u2018Spread \u2018em\u2019? It\u2019s a little suggestive!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, there were definitely some laughs at Spotlight\u2014and also great takeaways. The three panelists\u2014Gray, Davidson and Yusha Hu (CEO of <\/span>Local Bushel<\/span><\/a>), dug their heels deep after each 4-minute pitch. \u201cStart with one SKU\u2014and either direct-to-consumer or wholesale\u201d was the resounding sentiment from the panelists for Anjali Bhargava\u2019s company <\/span>Bija Bhar<\/span><\/a>, while the crowd texted in, sharing their opinion that the real saleable point of her product is that it\u2019s \u201cminimally-processed and low in sugar.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Who

Who thought olive tapenade could be so fun? Spread-mmms gets a laugh from the crowd.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ashly Yashchin, founder of <\/span>Barley and Oats<\/span><\/a>, was shocked to learn that 9 in 10 mothers are micronutrient deficient at conception, which was part of the reason why she started her food delivery service for new and expecting moms. \u201cI\u2019m looking at the numbers coming up [for the question] \u2018If you were a mother at what phase would you order the most from our service?\u2019,\u201d Davidson said, referring to the crowdsourced feedback from the audience, \u201cAnd it looks like the majority right now are coming in as postpartum recovery\u2014the first 12 weeks post birth\u201d, implying that Yashchin might want to focus her segment. There was also a suggestion by Gray to \u201cthink national\u201d and consider having multiple kitchens, moving to flash frozen products, or modifying packaging to keep the freshness from 10 days to 2 weeks. <\/span><\/p>\n

The panelists chimed in to the Jalapajar presentation, whose co-founders shared that they were looking to open up a small restaurant after the resounding success at Smorgasburg. Considerations of risky real estate, setting up near university settings, and serving more than one dish was the principal feedback. The crowd agreed that breakfast tacos were the way to go, and provided all sorts of ideas of other dishes that can be served with salsa\u2014from eggs to ceviche. Davidson suggested that Jalapajar could cut their rent dramatically by heading to her hometown. <\/span>\u201cThere are quite a bit of Brooklyn chefs and Brooklyn entrepreneurs moving to the city of Detroit simply because rent is so darn cheap…And not only can they afford the rent but then can buy the building!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The

The Jalapa Jar founders realized they could own the breakfast salsa category after presenting at Spotlight.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cFoodstand Spotlight was a great experience on every level and something that forced us to get our plan together,\u201d said Steve Smith, co-founder of Jalapajar said. \u201cI will definitely recommend this event to all the companies we know that are looking for a platform.\u201d Gray concludes, \u201cSpotlight…is truly a forum to get a business idea out there for feedback. It\u2019s providing the premier forum for this level of startup in the New York area.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Join Foodstand and Slow Money NYC for our next Good FoodSpotlight event: <\/span>Monday, May 16th <\/span><\/a>in NYC!<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to see Spotlight in your hometown? <\/span>Email us or reach out on our app<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and tell us why your city should be next! <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Shark Tank to Foundermade\u2014food entrepreneurs are getting more stage time to present their businesses to investors and audiences, but the Good Food Spotlight, co-produced by Foodstand and Slow Money NYC, has been a monthly staple for good food\u00a0entrepreneurs.\u00a0 This month, the Good Food Spotlight, co-produced by Foodstand and Slow Money NYC, convened at Foodstand\u2019s Headquarters on 5th Avenue to gather together for their monthly pitch fest. The crowd was larger than the last by at least two dozen people\u2014a testament to the growing hunger and excitement around food entrepreneurship. Over 100 people\u2014ranging from fellow food entrepreneurs and investors to food writers and straight up food-interested folk\u2014buzzed about the smorgasbord of food, provided by Local Roots NYC, a pick-as-you-please CSA, and artisan cheese supplier, Murray\u2019s Cheese. The concept of Spotlight is elegant yet simple. As Edible Manhattan, earlier described, \u201cEntrepreneurs can pitch their businesses to a panel of experts for feedback in front of a supportive crowd, or book short, private appointments with an industry expert.\u201d \u201cThis is the place to find exciting food products and services that are really startups…The real time tweets on the screen behind the presenter form a mosaic of Haiku market consumer intelligence and insights,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54],"tags":[58,56,61,62,63,57,55,59,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1240,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881\/revisions\/1240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.thefoodstand.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}