by Bob Benenson, Rebecca Frabizio and Chelsea Callahan, FamilyFarmed
Family Farmed is pleased to announce the lineup of entrepreneurs who will be participating in our 2017-18 Good Food Accelerator program.
The fourth cohort since the Accelerator was launched in 2014, these nine exciting early-stage businesses were competitively selected from a pool of excellent applicants. They will benefit from an intensive curriculum, industry-leading guest speakers and mentors, networking opportunities with buyers and investors, and collaboration with the current and past Fellows whose businesses are facing similar growth opportunities and pains.
There are links to earlier stories about the Good Food Accelerator at the end of this article.
Cauldron
Cauldron produces a craft beverage concentrate that is also known as a drinking vinegar or shrub. Cauldron Elixirs are 100 percent raw with live probiotics and target many consumers, from those seeking a healthy lifestyle to those passionate about craft mixology. Cauldron highlights locally grown, sustainable and organic produce, provides a fuller-flavored product, and has health benefits from the naturally fermented vinegar as well as from using zero heat for a full nutrient-packed product.
Cultured Love
Cultured Love produces nutritious fermented foods with ingredients sourced from local farms. The company currently produces specialty sauerkrauts and kimchi for retail and food service/institutional. Its retail products are 100 percent organic and provide natural probiotics through wild fermentation that are unique in texture, flavor and presentation.
Cultured Love makes probiotic-loaded sauerkraut in a variety of flavors. Jodie and Paul Krumpe started the company in 2014 after family illnesses prompted them to research food as medicine. In the photo, Jodie (left) provided samples of the company’s products last March at FamilyFarmed’s Good Food EXPO. Photo: Bob Benenson/FamilyFarmed
Lil’ Gourmets
Lil’ Gourmets produces refrigerated baby food products that are made with organic, clean ingredients and no preservatives, and are High Pressure Pasteurized (HPP). By using more vegetables than fruit and adding hints of complex spice blends, the products are designed to help expand a baby’s palate, reducing the chance of a picky eater and establishing healthy eating habits from the start.
Shibani Baluja, founder of the Lil’ Gourmets fresh, organic baby food startup, discussed her company at an investor showcase staged Oct. 19 by Chicago’s Spiral Sun Ventures. Photo: Bob Benenson/FamilyFarmed
No Denial Foods
No Denial Foods brings back the joy of food for the health-restricted consumer by offering indulgent, grain-free, low sugar desserts and snacks. They produce three SKUs of nut mixes and a line of bakery items. Their products are sweet-tooth satisfying snacks and desserts designed for people eating low-sugar, gluten-free and/or dairy free diets; all products are made without grains, dairy and refined sugars, and they are naturally gluten-free.
Debbie Wood’s love for sweets has been challenged by her Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. So she developed No Denial, which produces a line of healthy, low-sugar treats. Here Debbie provided samples at a pop-up market at Chicago’s Revival Food Hall on June 17. Photo: Bob Benenson/FamilyFarmed
Ready To Brands (fomerly Humblearth)
Ready To Brands is a genuine start-up, creating innovative and organic functional food products that nurture women before, during and after pregnancy. Their first product, “Ready to Pop,” is an organic, ready-to-freeze ice pop that addresses three main pain points associated with morning sickness: dehydration, nausea relief, and key nutrients for fetal development. The company, originally named Humblearth, re-branded as Ready To in early 2018.
Spice Foods
Spice Foods offers dry-roasted California almonds blended with unique and exotic spices from around the world. Each SKU has only three ingredients — almonds, spices and tapioca starch — and is vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, and kosher. They feature a story and history lesson on each bag that describes the unique spice they are highlighting.
Spice Foods produces delicious snacks made from California almonds seasoned with blends of spices from around the world, such as Argentinian Chimichurri, Ethiopian Berbere and Levantine Za’atar. Photo: Bob Benenson/FamilyFarmed
Tempo Tea
Tempo Tea is a USDA organic-certified, ready-to-drink beverage featuring healthy ingredients crafted to provide a boost of natural energy. Tempo contains zero calories and no added sugars or sweeteners, with unique profiles that create a flavorful alternative to soft drinks or sweetened tea.
Ryan Crane (right) will participate in the upcoming fourth cohort of FamilyFarmed’s Good Food Accelerator as co-founder of Tempo sparkling tea. Here he chats with Jordan Buckner, co-founder of 2017 Accelerator graduate Tea Squares, at an investor showcase staged Oct. 19 by Chicago’s Spiral Sun Ventures. Photo: Bob Benenson/Family Farmed
The Farinata Project
The Farinata Project recreates tasty, vintage Italian chickpea flour flatbread for the modern American market. Higher in protein than traditional breads and gluten/grain free, Farinata is a nutritious, wholesome flatbread that you can eat as a meal or a snack.
Farinata Italian-style flatbreads, made with chickpea flour, in the freezer case at a Whole Foods Market store in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Photo: Bob Benenson/FamilyFarmed
Verzênay Patisserie
Verzênay Patisserie offers high quality artisanal savory and sweet baked goods, pastries and desserts, with no artificial anything. The bakers use clean ingredients and produce great-tasting products with locally sourced ingredients.
More on the Good Food Accelerator from Good Food on Every Table:
FamilyFarmed Good Food Accelerator Graduates Are On The Rise
Good Food Accelerator Businesses Hail Learning and Bonding Experiences
Wow. All wonderful ideas. Great packaging. All fill a need in a crowded space but all well worthwhile investments. Bravo to all of you!