With farmers’ markets blooming and themes of “Go Local” sweeping grocery stores, it is prime time for budding food entrepreneurs to showcase their product’s originality or promote grandma’s best recipes. Luckily for Nebraska food entrepreneurs, the nation’s only extensive food entrepreneur assistance program is nestled in their own backyard on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus.

The Food Entrepreneur Assistance Program, within the Food Processing Center, is the ultimate source for assistance through all phases of establishing a food business. After attending the “Recipe to Reality” seminar, a workshop providing entrepreneurs with a basic understanding of crucial issues in a food business, the individual is ready to begin “Product to Profit.”

The product owner meets with consultants one-on-one, taking about a year to complete the program. The program helps to uniquely tailor each entrepreneur’s creations by providing insight into the food industry and promoting a competitive edge within the marketplace.

Jill Gifford, Manager Food Entreprenuer Assistance Pgm

Program manager Jill Gifford said “Product to Profit” provides professional input the entrepreneur may not have considered. Taking a product to the market is more than slapping a name on a jar and giving it to the store for sale. The food industry has many requirements and regulations a product must meet before being sold in stores.

“It helps them to think about everything, and it helps to prevent mistakes such as getting labeling incorrect with the FDA,” Gifford said. “Any small business takes a lot of work; the food industry is all very regulated. Our services provide help with this to make everything easier.”

The program team of food industry experts, including food scientists and business consultants, counsel the individual in business development, product development, labeling and regulatory compliance, processing facility location, product pricing and promotional material development. The team works for the success of the food product by advising the entrepreneur to make educated decisions including proper planning and execution. This personalized form of food business counseling is not limited to Nebraska residents alone.

“It is the only center in the country that is this extensive, which is why we get companies from all over the country. It is a unique program,” Gifford said.

Julie Reiling, Food Scientist, Sensory Analysis Lab Panel

Not only does the program provide insights into the complexities of owning a food business, it also looks to give new food products the upper hand in being competitive. According to Gifford, in the food industry it not only takes a great idea, but great marketing, promotion and business concept to survive. “Product to Profit” strives to implement these intangibles to enable the prosperity of the product.

“There is a lot of competition,” she said. “It takes a competitive edge to be successful. Have a really quality product, have quality packaging, have a willingness to market and promote so the consumer understands the uniqueness of the product.”

Local food entrepreneur James Gustafson has found “Recipe to Reality” and “Product to Profit” to be invaluable in the creation of his food endeavors with Pur Java, a coffee product.

“The [Food Processing Center] is a gold mine of expertise and knowledge that can be utilized for any food industry questions.  The resources that are available from marketing outlets, production issues, nutrition information and labeling are all areas of knowledge the FPC can answer for anyone starting a new food-related business,” he said.

Whether the food entrepreneur is a Nebraska native or a resident hundreds of miles away, the Food Entrepreneur Assistance Program puts companies on the right track. According to its website, FPC prides itself on the ability to take “ food from thought” to “transform ideas into reality with passion, flavor and innovation.”

[For more information about the UNL Food Processing Center, check out their Resource Listing right here on NebraskaEntrepreneur.com.]

“It was originally my husband’s father’s recipe,” said Betsy Ashman, co-founder of Pastabilities Unlimited, the company that currently manufactures and distributes Sorrisos. “He would make it for family and friends, he’d jar it and send it with his three sons to school –everybody loved it. Everybody came to know it was going to be available at family functions and it was something they all looked forward to. They’d always say ‘You have to get this on the shelves. Why is this not available? It’s that good.’”

In 1996, spurred on by encouragement from his family, Mick Ashman and his sons began distributing his secret recipe as Mick-D-Angelo’s Pasta Sauce. Although David Ashman left Nebraska for a time, in 2002, he and his wife returned to the state and to the Ashman family business.

“We were making the sauce right here,” Betsy said, referring to the general store she and her husband opened after the move, which would later include their second business — Papa D’s Pizzeria — in the back. “The walls would be lined with cases of sauce. The whole town smelled delicious whenever it was a day to make sauce. You smell that and you’re just immediately hungry.”

In 2005, Mick Ashman passed the reins of his pasta sauce startup to his eldest son.

“It was sort of like continue the legacy — the classic handing it down from father to son,” Betsy said. “The sauce is more method than recipe, so it wasn’t handing over a piece of paper. But since David had always been involved in making the sauce, it was a very easy transition.”

Sorrisos warehouse and signs showing past brands

However, although the passing of that delicious torch from one Ashman to the next was smooth, other problems soon arose. Another company was claiming trademark rights to the Mick-D-Angelo’s name. Betsy and David struggled to find a new label for their product.

“It took us two months to think of a new name,” Betsy said. “Everything else was trademarked already.”

They finally settled on Sorrisos, a creative take on sorriso, the Italian word for smile. However, re-branding their sauce and launching it under a new name was only the first of many obstacles they faced. Now running a general store, a pizza place and a veritable sauce factory, the Ashmans found themselves running short on space. They solved that particular dilemma by hiring a contract packager to assist in manufacturing the sauce, allowing them to focus on the marketing angle.

“Our decision to go to the contract packager wasn’t easy for us, since we’re the only ones who’d made it since start up,” Betsy said. “It was very hard to let go of, to find someone to do it to our specifications who was very conscious of how much it mattered to us.”

However, that outsourcing gamble paid off. The accolades for Sorrisos continue to roll in. In 2008, the original flavor — Sweet and Savory Gourmet Pasta Sauce –was declared a finalist in the 2008 Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards. A year later, Bon Appétit magazine listed that same recipe as “What To Buy” in its The United Plates of America compilation of the best things to eat, drink and buy in all 50 states.

And the Ashmans couldn’t be happier with those results.

“In the food business, projects have a 95 percent failure rate,” Betsy said. “That’s kind of where perseverance and a good sense of humor come in.”

Sorrisos Gourmet Pasta Sauce from Nebraska Entrepreneur on Vimeo.

Learn about how Sorrisos Gourmet Pasta Sauce came in to existence and some of the resources that helped them along the way to build their business.

http://www.sorrisossauce.com/