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Food and beverage entrepreneurs—mark your calendars for the next Food Business Basics workshop, presented by the Rutgers Food Innovation Center.
This in-person, full-day program is designed to help entrepreneurs strengthen the essential areas of their businesses, with anticipated topics including statewide resources, packaging, food safety, sales strategy, branding, accounting, product development, business planning, and more.
Tuesday, November 17, 2026
8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Rutgers Eco Complex
1200 Florence Columbus Road
Bordentown, NJ 08505
Here’s what you’ll learn in one day.
Agenda
8:00am Attendee Sign In & Continental Breakfast
8:30am – 10:30am Presentations I
8:30am – 8:35am Welcome & Introduction to Rutgers EcoComplex; Serpil Guran Ph.D., Professor, Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics Director, Rutgers EcoComplex, “Transforming Agri-Food Systems into Regenerative form for Resilience”
8:35am – 8:45am Welcome & Introduction, FIC Capabilities; Nolan Lewin, Executive Director, Food Innovation Center at Rutgers
8:45am – 9:00am Statewide Resources for Entrepreneurs; Sho Islam, Director, Office of Business Engagement, Middlesex County
9:00am – 9:30am Information for small businesses that contract with the federal government; Receiving access to capital; Ted Young, Business Opportunity Specialist, US Small Business Association
9:30am – 10:00am Consumer Trends in the Food & Beverage Industry; Joyce Friedberg, Marketing Research Specialist, Food Innovation Center at Rutgers
10:00am – 10:30am Engaging with Your Local Forager (Retail); John Lawson, Senior Local Forager, Whole Foods
Break 15 minutes
10:45am – 12:15pm Presentations II
10:45am – 11:15am Accounting Basics and Entity Structure/How To Register Your Company; Speaker TBD
11:15am – 11:45am Brand Power- Creating and protecting your brand; Danielle DeFilippis, Esq., Norris McLaughlin P.A. Attorneys at Law
11:45am – 12:15pm Packaging Specifications & Compatibility; Patricia Santos, Lecturer, Rutgers University, Packaging Engineering, Dept of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
12:15pm – 1:15pm Lunch
1:15pm – 3:45pm Presentations III
1:15pm – 1:45pm Trends in Food Safety & Requirements; Speaker TBD
1:45pm – 2:15pm Developing your Businesses Sales Strategy; Ron Tanner, President, Tanner Food Group
2:15pm – 2:45pm Successful Co-Manufacturing; Adam Smith, Operations Consultant, Alias Advising
2:45pm – 3:15pm Product Development and Operations; Zuri Masud, Food Technology Associate, Food Innovation Center at Rutgers
3:15pm – 3:45pm Developing Your Business Plan – Elements, Financial, Monitor & Control; Speaker TBD
4:00pm – 4:30 pm Networking
Registration:
Early Bird Registration: $250 through October 19
Regular Registration: $300 through November 13
Student Registration is FREE. To register, email ayg6@njaes.rutgers.edu
You must have a Rutgers Division of Continuing Studies account before registering for Fall FBB 2026. If not, please create an account by following the asterisks. Registering takes about a minute; we thank you for your time.
**No Refund**
REGISTER HERE
Please register today as this event sells out fast!