Pretty much every Brooklynite and their mother has thought about quitting that day job and joining the never-ending artisan food bandwagon, right? Unfortunately, it turns out that doing so can be a lot harder than just coming up with a big idea, finding a used truck on Craigslist and stockpiling ingredients from the co-op. There are permits to acquire, industrial kitchen space to book, and countless other hurdles to jump through. Starting up as a little guy in the food business here in New York can often seem downright impossible.
Making it just a little bit easier: Fair Trade NYC, a new alliance of artisan food producers like Kings County Jerky, Granola Lab and the Splendid Spoon (formerly Sea Bean Soup) who have banded together to share information and pool resources, in order to make it easier for all of them to build profitable, sustainable small food businesses. The group will organize networking events and workshops focused on building your food-based business. Ulimately, they hope to be able to set up a shared kitchen space, and buy ingredients together in bulk.
Interested? Fair Trade NYC is holding a launch party next Thursday, September 6 at 61 Local in Cobble Hill. They will be hosting a member panel and discussion about how to get started in the food business. If you’re in it just for the eats, the group will also be raffling off baskets of food from their members—and of course 61 Local has a smorgasbord of interesting craft beers on tap. Check out the details here and book your free ticket online.