NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF BARRIE
*************************
The City of Barrie is partnering with Georgian College and the Agri-Food Management Institute to bring SPROUT to Simcoe County.
SPROUT is a business development program designed to assist food-based entrepreneurs to take their product ideas to market. Registration is open now for the course, which will run for 10 weeks starting Feb. 22, 2018.
“Food businesses represent a high proportion of small businesses in our city,” said Zvi Lifshiz, Executive Director of Invest Barrie. “In fact, 30 per cent of Barrie’s downtown businesses are culinary-based, with a 19 per cent increase in specialty food stores from 2010-2015. These statistics demonstrate the importance of the City supporting food entrepreneurs with programs like SPROUT.”
The program is comprised of weekly seminars, kitchen time, panel presentations, mentorship and a final presentation to the public at the end of the 10-week program.
SPROUT is ideal for early stage food entrepreneurs who have a food idea that they have begun to develop (but are pre-revenue), or for those who are currently selling at farmer’s markets and festivals.
Participants in the course will learn:
- Introduction to food production and training with production kitchens
- Understanding the regulatory environment of food
- Understanding costs related to developing a food product
- Recipe and food product development
- Sales distribution, pricing, marketing and selling
For more information, or to register, visit the SPROUT website.
*************************
