Our Gourmet Products are Making Headlines

David Chikos of Bridgeport, Neb., attended a Lincoln foods conference in hopes of learning how to more widely distribute his Ladle Lovers brand of dry bean soup mix.

The full-time farmer and owner of High Plains Soup Co. said he got more than that at the National Small Food Manufacturers’ Conference.

Chikos left with “a reinvigorated fire in my belly to get the product to market.”

Small food manufacturers and specialty food producers continue to experience growth despite the economic downturn, conference organizers said, which is why “opportunity” was the theme of the conference.

About 125 business owners, some from as far away as Canada and Pennsylvania, attended the two-day conference last week sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Food Processing Center, the first national event targeting small food manufacturers.

The purpose of the conference was to provide businesspeople with tools and ideas to make their companies grow, said Jill Gifford, manager of the Food Entrepreneur Assistance Program at UNL. Participants attended sessions on e-commerce, financing, product distribution and sales.

Chikos said he and his brother George started the business in 2000 to add value to their bean crop. But it’s been hard getting his soup mixes on store shelves, he said.

“Coming up with the idea is the easy part,” he said, but sales and distribution are tricky.

James Gustafson, co-owner of Pur Java, a Lincoln company that produces a liquid coffee concentrate, said he learned how to improve his company’s Web site.

He said he learned new concepts, such as search engine optimization, the process of increasing traffic to a Web site by improving its ranking in online search results.

The conference covered the nuts and bolts of running a food business, Gustafson said, and encouraged him to consider his long-term goals for the business. “(The conference) showed ways to put it all together.”

Dr. Rolando Flores, director of the Food Processing Center, said small food manufacturers are classified as businesses with fewer than 500 employees, but the size of businesses with which UNL typically works is between one and 50 employees.

Most of the companies have fewer than 50 employees, and many are one- or two-person or family owned businesses.

Nebraska has about 200 small food manufacturers, according to the center.

“The reason we wanted to host the conference (could) be summed up in two words: economic development,” Flores said.

The Food Processing Center offers a variety of services, including workshops for startup businesses, assistance with product development, business planning and co-packing. Co-packing is having a product produced according to your specifications in another firm’s facility, using the equipment, skills and work force of that firm.

National in-store sales of specialty foods grew faster than overall retail sales between 2006 and 2008, Gifford said. That represents an opportunity for small producers in Nebraska, she said.

The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade projects continued strong growth as some consumers trade restaurant dining for more specialty food items during the economic downturn.

“People need to eat,” Flores said.

Katrina Frey, owner of Heavenly Creations in Stapleton, Neb., said the conference provided her with information about different ways to promote her jam, jelly, syrup, baking mixes and sauces.

She also learned about brokers to help her sell her products.

It was valuable to network and exchange ideas with others who own similar businesses, she said.

“It’s all about finding opportunities.”

Gifford said small companies traditionally have done well during recessions.

“Now’s the time to jump and go after those opportunities,” she said.