Or it looks so to me, based on the recent Food Book Fair in Brooklyn. Here’s what so impressed me on this sunny day at the industro-hip Wythe Hotel:
Purekitchen hosted cooking classes. The company’s locally made kitchen cabinetry was a feast for the eyes beyond the food being demo’d. What a fun synergy for kitchen designers to partner with cooking class teachers for mutual exposure.- Quinciple‘s beautiful website promotes its weekly, curated farm and artisan food boxes in the New York area. It’s like a third party-driven CSA where the Quinciple team picks the selection rather than farms delivering whatever’s ready to eat. Will consumers crave the excitement and freedom given in lack of choice? Or would they prefer something like Full Circle where you set your food preferences and desires? Only time will tell.
- Borough Mushroom is just one of the aspiring local food entrepreneurs who practiced their pitch. The founders explained that there’s no major specialty mushroom producer (think shiitake and candy caps) in the New York area. Their idea just made sense to me, filling a lucrative niche, given the vast restaurant scene.
- New York City Food Manufacturers’ Growth Fund infuses NYC food manufacturers with 4 or more employees and 150k-7mm in annual revenue (among other requirements) with cash to get to the proverbial next level. Think of them as the filling to the sandwich that starts with crowd funding or angels and big investment. Very cool.
- The NYC food systems network and and small food producers network in Williamsburg provide yet more support.
All in all it’s a good time to be a food entrepreneur in the New York area. If there’s one thing I took away, food companies grow in Brooklyn.
Maybe it’s the concentrated scene that amplified the support, in a focused way. But I wonder, where else has such unified support and collaboration to support local food systems and entrepreneurs?
