Farm to Retail Program

This 12-session live program empowers small and medium-sized farmers and food entrepreneurs to transform their recipes into retail-ready products, mastering scalable production, sustainable brand strategy, and CFIA/FDA compliance with expert guidance and industry connections.

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testimonials

What they say

"Siskiyou Economic Development Centre and Siskiyou Farm Co. are pleased to endorse Food Venture Program Inc. for its exceptional support of food entrepreneurs.

Their comprehensive approach, combining mentorship, education, and industry insights, has empowered countless startups to grow and thrive in the competitive food market. By providing tailored resources and expert guidance, Food Venture Accelerator plays a vital role in fostering innovation and sustainability in the food industry.

We are confident that our businesses who participated in the 12 Week Bootcamp gained invaluable tools for success. We highly recommend Food Venture Program Inc. for any food business seeking to scale and excel!"

Tandy Thackeray

Operations, Agriculture & Innovation
Siskiyou Economic Development

Sima came highly recommended to us by Dana McCauley, who was the former Executive Director for the Toronto Food Starter Incubator.

The [FVA] program introduced food processors to the requirements and skills needed to run a successful food processing business. The topics include everything from feasibility, customer discovery, sales to the many regulatory issues including packaging, labeling, sanitation, recipe development.

We have had 100% participation from the participants for every session, even through this COVID crisis when we had to transition from classroom sessions to online video conferencing/webinars. If you are considering having FVA deliver this program in your community I highly recommend them.

Chris Farrell

Manager, Waterloo Region Small Business Center

Why SBDC's and Other Training Organizations Choose FVA's 12-Week Farm to Retail Program

This 12-session live program empowers small business development centers, colleges, universities, and entrepreneurship organizations to deliver dynamic training, equipping farmers and food entrepreneurs with the skills to scale recipes, build sustainable brands, ensure CFIA/FDA compliance, and achieve retail success through expert-led mentorship and industry connections.

Elevate from Farm-gating to CPG Production

Watch the transformation as your students elevate their farm-gated produce to a CPG, retail-ready product. From eggs to custard!

Build Local Brands

Your students will develop sustainable strategies and food-specific branding to expand their products’ market presence with scaled recipe that can start as local sensations and expand nationally.

Ensure Compliance

Your students will master CFIA and FDA-compliant packaging and labeling, ensuring their products meet regulatory standards.

Expand Networks

Your students will connect with food industry experts and peers to foster collaboration and support business growth.

This program is offered in partnership with:

Learning Objectives

By the end of this program, entrepreneurs will:

Develop the skills and knowledge of how to turn a small-batch recipe into a scalable recipe for large-scale production, for retail sale.
Explore opportunities for and the application of sustainable food business practices.
Understand the basics of the psychology of food branding, purchasing behavior and best practices for building a food-specific marketing strategy.
Understand and apply principles of food packaging and nutrition labeling requirements as per the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Increase understanding of principles of food safety and safe food production techniques.
Learn the methods behind scaling a small batch recipe into a scalable recipe formulation
Entrepreneurs will leave with the basic knowledge to be able to finance, package, label, brand and market their own food product.

Class 1	Class 2	Class 3	Class 4	Class 5	Class 6
Food trends and achieving product market fit	value proposition, business model canvas	Marketing trends, brand strategy, and storytelling	Food science and recipe development	Food packaging and nutrition labeling	Circularity and sustainability in food production

Class 7	Class 8	Class 9	Class 10	Class 11	Class 12
Sanitation, food safety, and traceability	Financial feasibility and planning	Social media management	Culinary tourism	Sales, distribution and subscription Models	Pitch competition

More Details

Weekly LIVE classes held online (NEVER pre-recorded).
1-1 professional food industry mentorship from executives, dietitians & serial entrepreneurs in the food industry.
Receive a FVA Certificate of Completion!
Lifetime access to a private community of food/beverage entrepreneurs with resources updated regularly.

Want to Take or Run this Program?

Our programs are only offered via entrepreneurship training organizations across North America, including but not limited to:

Small Business Development Centers
Universities
Colleges

If you want to take this program individually, please email us, and we will connect you with the closest program or business center in your region.