Local foods workshops present strategies for marketing local foods products
By Fred Miller
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Fast Facts:
- Workshops teach how to develop and promote local foods products
- Focus on fundamentals of starting and growing a food entrepreneurship
- Skills to create branding messages to reach consumers
(442 words)
Download related PHOTO from Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/27aW2TL
Related website: https://afic.uark.edu/keep-it-local/
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Food growers and entrepreneurs looking to break into local foods markets can attend a series of workshops by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
“Keep it Local! Creating and Marketing Value-Added Products” workshops will focus on the skills, information and creativity needed to turn a food concept into commercial food products in local foods systems, said Renee Threlfall, Division of Agriculture research scientist.
Threlfall said, “These workshops are designed to extend our knowledge on value-added foods to growers and entrepreneurs while increasing the potential for the local food industry in Arkansas.”
The workshops will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in three locations in Arkansas:
- Oct. 4 at the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service State Office, 2301 S. University, Little Rock;
- Oct. 15 at the Division of Agriculture’s Food Science Building on the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 2650 N. Young Ave. in Fayetteville; and
- Oct. 25 at the Foodbank of Northeast Arkansas, 3414 Once Place, Jonesboro.
Registration is required and limited to 50 participants at each location, Threlfall said. A $10 registration fee covers all materials and lunch.
The workshops are based on “Keep It Local,” a multi-disciplinary project of the Division of Agriculture and the U of A’s Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.
Eunjoo Cho, assistant professor in the School of Human Environmental Sciences in Bumpers College and Threlfall lead the project team that also includes Heather Friedrich, division horticulture project manager, and Michael Thomsen, professor of agricultural economics for the Division of Agriculture and Bumpers College. The team has also partnered with the National Center for Approporiate Technology.
All four team members will participate in leading the workshops.
“Keep It Local” focuses on reducing production and marketing risks faced by small and beginning value-added food producers in Arkansas, Cho said.
“Value-added foods provide an alternative for farmers and entrepreneurs to extend market reach and increase income,” Threlfall said. “Marketing skills enable producers to convey information about their business or products that atracts consumers to their products.”
Threlfalls said the project generates content to help advance local food systems by:
- Empowering underserved farmers and entrepreneurs to pursue value-added food production,
- Facilitating effective branding strategies, and
- expanding marketing opportunities for value-added producers.
“We are excited to host “Keep It Local” workshops in Arkansas,” Cho said. “The workshops will provide the opportunity to share our knowledge on value-added, local foods processing and development of marketing strategies using storytelling with growers and entrepreneurs.”
Online registration for the workshops and more information is available online at https://afic.uark.edu/keep-it-local/
“Keep it Local” workshops are sponsored by a grant from the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Program.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate or need materials in another format, please contact your (insert appropriate office) as soon as possible. Dial 711 for Arkansas Relay.Media Contact: Mary Hightower
Media Contact: Fred Miller
U of A Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
(479) 575-5647
fmiller@uark.edu
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