The national craving for simpler, natural and more locally sourced ingredients and products has expanded its footprint in Connecticut’s economy through a new public-private sector project — Food’NBev Connect  — Connecticut’s first food and beverage brand accelerator.

Food’NBev Connect is an economic development initiative whose mission is to nurture and grow start-up and scaling natural product companies and promote Connecticut and Fairfield County as a key epicenter of the natural products and brand movement. The effort will be led by The Business Council of Fairfield County, with support from leading executives in the food and beverage categories, the CTNext/Innovate Stamford program and several sponsor organizations.

“Critical to the success of entrepreneurs is a network of advisors and experienced mentors that entrepreneurs can tap into,” said Glendowlyn Thames, executive director of CTNext. “The expertise and capital residing in Connecticut is second to none and linking our food and beverage innovators into that network is a logical extension of the work of CTNext and Innovate Stamford.”

A changing landscape

Since the recession of 2009, while the overall manufacturing sector has declined in Fairfield County, food manufacturing has actually grown. These locally grown businesses are meeting the increasing consumer demand for nutritional food, snack and beverage products made with simpler recipes and natural ingredients.  No longer satisfied with mass produced, delivered and merchandised options, shoppers are now focused on fresh offerings with identifiable ingredients offered by smart, local and authentic brands.

Building from our strength

Connecticut has a long history of bringing better packaged, innovative brands and products to market – from Pepperidge Farm cookies to Bear Naked granola, from Tasty Bite to Spiked Seltzer – and it has many successful entrepreneurs, advisors, investors and related businesses that can help young companies grow.

As described by Gary Breitbart, managing director of the initiative, “Food’NBev Connect is about connecting our vast resources to make it easier for start-ups to access talent, find funding and advice without having to recreate the wheel and to make entrepreneurs aware that Fairfield County offers resources to help start and grow their concepts.”

“There are many questions a first-time entrepreneur has, and this seems amplified for anyone in the food space,” commented Will D’Agostino, CEO and Founder, Stamford-based Nutshell, a Food’NBev Connect member launch brand. “The information network is very disjointed and finding answers takes so much time away from more pressing business activities. Creating a community to provide efficient insight from experienced professionals gives business owners a way to get more hours out of the day and make quicker, more informed decisions.”

Meet our brands

Ten brands have initially been accepted into the initiative at launch, representing new and rapidly growing segments – from kombucha to cold brewed coffees and lattes, from nutbars to small batch granola, a thai soup and broth company and even engraved chocolates, as well as gourmet marinades and glazes and ice cream dessert brands.  These companies are all growing fast, but need help scaling further and funding their enterprises.

“We’re really excited to be a part of this initiative,” added Will Kelly, COO of Norwalk-based Kelly’s Four Plus granola. “We joined because there is a growing community of innovative food and beverage companies in Fairfield County and we want to contribute to that as much as we can.  The Food’NBev Connect cluster gives us access to advisors and other resources that will help take our brand to the next level.”

Food’NBev Connect is supported by an Executive Advisory Panel of proven food and beverage executives. The Executive Advisory Panel members include Tim Brown, previously President of Chobani and CEO of Stamford based Nestlé Waters North America; Ashok Vasudevan, founder of Stamford based Preferred Brands, the makers of the Tasty Bite brand; Janet Steinmeyer former CEO, Centerplate, a Stamford based food services company and current President of Mitchell College in New London, Connecticut; and David Cingari, CEO of David’s Soundview Catering, a local food service leader.

“I believe the food and beverage accelerator model will play a crucial socio-economic role in the region and beyond,” explained Food’NBev Executive Advisor Ashok Vasudevan. “The unstoppable megatrend of rising health care costs combined with an increased consumer belief in functional and holistic foods will be major tailwinds for food entrepreneurs dedicated to consumer wellness. This is yet a sunrise industry with promise of major growth both domestically and worldwide.”

For more information about Food’NBev Connect contact Lisa Mercurio of The Business Council of Fairfield County at 203-359-3220 and visit www.foodnbevct.com.