Thomas Jefferson’s gardening efforts resulted in success and failure. He used his 1,000-ft kitchen garden as a laboratory, growing over 300 types of vegetables. His focus wasn’t profit or production, though; but rather knowledge. Jefferson exchanged seeds with people from all over the world and as a result, introduced new and unusual plants not found elsewhere. One of Monticello's emeritus scholars says that the garden became like an “Ellis Island” of introduced vegetables. On this episode, we e...
Mar 12, 2019•39 min•Ep. 49
As your company grows and you can no longer fulfill demand, you have to make a decision: do you invest in a larger production facility, or do you outsource to a co-packer? We're joined on this episode by three incredible industry experts to discuss all of the reasons why co-manufacturing is a great business to get into, how you should do business with a co-packer so all parties are set-up for success, and challenges they have faced along the way. Tune in to hear from Matt Sebastionelli from Luck...
Mar 05, 2019•41 min•Ep. 48
When I talk about the education and consulting side of our business at Cureate, I often say: you may know how to make jam, but not know how to run a jam business - that’s where we come in! A huge part in figuring out if your food business is going to succeed is understanding how to price your product, and all of the factors to consider when doing so. Grab a piece of paper and pen, because we’re about to discuss three tips on for determing your food cost (wholesale, and MSRP - manufacturer's sugg...
Feb 26, 2019•13 min•Ep. 47
We're joined on this episode by Rahaf Harfoush, a Digital Anthropologist and Best-Selling Author who researches the impacts of emerging technologies on our society. Tune in to hear our discussion around our belief systems of work, the historical tension between creativity and productivity, and how Rahaf became a Beyoncé-ologist while researching the principles highlighted in her latest book, Hustle & Float.
Feb 19, 2019•31 min•Ep. 46
A topic that keeps surfacing these days is around self care and entrepreneurship. On The Tidbit, we're particularly interested in this discussion as it relates to the beliefs we tell ourselves, how the media exacerbates those beliefs, and how cultural collective consciousness norms keep us in race, gender, and/or socio-economic boxes. To discuss this intersection, we’re joined in-studio by Sarah Malphrus - the pastry chef at Rye Street Tavern by Andrew Carmellini in Baltimore, Maryland. Born and...
Feb 12, 2019•28 min•Ep. 45
If you’re an emerging CPG (consumer packed goods) business, and you’re looking to level up your game and get onto a retail shelf in a grocery store or corporate cafeteria, what do you need to do to be prepared? On this minisode we dicuss three tips for winning over a retail buyer. ★ ★ ★ Our mission includes the sharing of education and access to resources - and the best way to reach more listeners like you is to leave a review in iTunes. If you enjoyed this minisode, head over to your app and le...
Feb 05, 2019•11 min•Ep. 44
The 2018 Farm Bill was signed into effect in an unheard of (for this era!) bipartisan manner. Passage of the Farm Bill marks a watershed event for hemp, a crop planted centuries ago by America’s founding fathers - making it once again legal to grow and sell. Quoting Hemp is Now Legal. That's Huge for CBD Industry. a Vox piece states: "[This] Farm Bill opportunity isn’t just for farmers. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s lackadaisical approach to CBD has helped the CBD industry sell about $35...
Jan 22, 2019•32 min•Ep. 43
What are the fields emerging in food & beverage broadly that we can begin to think up new ventures and new ways of approaching challenges that are encroaching upon us as a society? Our imaginations soar as we sit down with Jenn Goggin, a co-founder of Startle, an innovation studio for the food ecosystem. On this episode of The Tidbit we discuss new innovations across the food & beverage supply chain from smart packaging, to plastic-free products, to new retail models and technologies....
Jan 15, 2019•34 min•Ep. 42
Many entrepreneurs struggle with creating tangible metrics around focused goals. On today’s minisode, we’re going to discuss the framework created by Google called OKRs - Objectives, and Key Results. It’s a system for tracking your desired objectives and keeping yourself accountable. To supplement this episode, we've created an OKR template digital download for food & beverage small business owners.
Jan 08, 2019•13 min•Ep. 41
As the last show of the season and year, we discuss the framework - Core Desired Feelings by Danielle LaPorte - that is a healthier way of setting oneself up for success. For example, instead of saying: I want to lose weight or I want to make x-amount of dollars - what is it that you’re ACTUALLY looking to achieve by losing weight or making more money? Do you want to feel more confident? Do you want to feel liberated? Those are just means to a feeling - so what is it that you actually want? On t...
Dec 18, 2018•18 min•Ep. 40
'Tis the season for holiday shopping! Which means, this is also the season where many food entrepreneurs make at least 40% of their sales for the year. If you’re a longtime listener of The Tidbit, you know that we advocate for shifting our purchasing dollars back into the local economy YEAR ROUND. But, we certainly can not ignore the impact this time of year has on our local economies. Tune in as we provide statistics around shopping local, and feature one incredible local food condiment company...
Dec 04, 2018•35 min•Ep. 39
At Cureate we get a ton of inbound emails from individuals who are looking to start a career in food. Yes, it is stated as plainly as that - I want to work in food. Now, the food system is extremely vast and there are certainly a lot of challenges - and therefore business opportunities - to tackle. Listeners, you are all at different stages in your food journey so, on this episode, we discuss the complexities of the food system with Alex Moore, Chief Development Officer at DC Central Kitchen. DC...
Nov 27, 2018•37 min•Ep. 38
At the time of this episode's recording, we are a couple of weeks after the 2018 midterm election and it is also Thanksgiving week. Now, The Tidbit is a show about entrepreneurship lessons learned and tips on starting/running a small business... and, this may be obvious, but - let's state this plainly - a lot of small business owners go into business with their family members; and/or, especially around the holidays, a lot of shit can be brought up around the dinner table. On this episode, we sit...
Nov 20, 2018•37 min•Ep. 37
This season on The Tidbit we’ve discussed ways to increase your access to social capital, and how to create infrastructure and support for entrepreneurial ecosystems. We continue to sit down with business owners to discuss their tidbits of knowledge and lessons learned along the way — and we’ve begun showcasing Buyers and the opportunities presented around increasing demand for local, small business products and services. A CRUCIAL part to this equation is us - the consumer drive. The demand gen...
Nov 06, 2018•36 min•Ep. 36
How can we create ecosystems that build supportive infrastructure where small business owners feel taken care of and supported? Think of the base of Maslow’s Hierarchy - shelter, location. If you can’t rely on your business home to be a constant, how will you ever be able to grow? Naturally you’ll always be operating out of a scarcity mindset. We sit down with entrepreneurship ecosystem builder Dominic Bonaduce to discuss. Dom oversees Alley’s operations in Washington, DC and manages collaborati...
Oct 30, 2018•27 min•Ep. 35
Have you ever been ready for growth but external factors limited your ability to reach your goals? This is the piece of the supply chain puzzle that Alice Blayne-Allard identified as a problem area as our craft spirits industry continues to boom. Freestate Cooperage is the only #madeinMaryland cooperage, creating heritage new white oak barrels for Mid-Atlantic made spirits. Fun fact: Alice is also the 2nd woman-owned cooperage owner in the entire United States. Tune into this live TED-Style talk...
Oct 23, 2018•21 min•Ep. 34
Three sisters out of Philadelphia — Jackie, Shelby, and Amy Zitelman — started Soom Foods. Their goal? To make tahini a staple in American pantries. But to start, they began with chefs. Who are your early adopters and how can those customers become your biggest brand advocates? How do you know when to diversify your sales channels? Tune into this episode of The Tidbit to learn the Soom story with CEO, Shelby Zitelman.
Oct 09, 2018•37 min•Ep. 33
We talk a lot about access to financial capital when starting a business - who has capital, how can you pitch to get more capital, what can you do to prove you’re worth capital, etc. What we don't talk enough about is access to social capital. In today’s era, one could plainly state that it is the sum of people you surround yourself with. But… what if you weren’t born into a particular sphere of people? What if you just don’t know how to expand your circle of connection? Tune into this episode o...
Oct 01, 2018•11 min•Ep. 32
We're live on-site at the Chesapeake Food Summit where we're learning about innovation in food systems change throughout this region. One of the biggest areas of opportunity to effectuate change is through procurement - hello, local sourcing! We sit down with Baltimore Food Policy Director, Holly Freishtat, to talk about government's role in sourcing food and how contracts can be written (and broken!) to better align with our values.
Sep 25, 2018•36 min•Ep. 31
In 1986, Occasions Caterers started in a tiny apartment kitchen with just a few printed business cards and a small van. They gradually built a team of executives, chefs, captains and waiters who were also committed to the Co-Founders’ vision (fun fact: the Co-Founders are also twin brothers!). Fast forward thirty years later and Occasions has indeed grown but the focus remains the same: a boutique approach to full-service catering with a focus on custom menus, creative décor, expert planning and...
Sep 18, 2018•33 min•Ep. 30
Food is a multi-sensory experience, but typically served in a semi-standard setting - or at least in a setting one is used to experiencing food. What if you took a part each piece of that sensory experience and created a new way of consuming, a new way of looking at food or beverage by getting hyper-focused on one of your senses? We're joined today by Kelly Bryden, Art Director for the Rosé Mansion in New York City and the upcoming Museum of Pizza. As you to listen to our conversation, think: ho...
Sep 11, 2018•29 min•Ep. 29
Over the past two seasons of The Tidbit we’ve discussed the foundations of starting a business, tactics to grow one’s business, and we’ve featured some amazing small business owners and their entrepreneurial journeys. As we head into our third season, we are going to take those topics and add another key voice to the conversation. Who are the businesses that are putting their money where their mouth is to buy from local businesses? Who are the organizations breaking down barriers to entry for en...
Aug 07, 2018•12 min•Ep. 28
The Homegrown by Heroes program provides consumers a tangible way to support veterans. We're joined in-studio with Gary Matteson from the Farm Credit Council (the trade association for the nationwide Farm Credit System) and Calvin Riggleman, the owner of Big Riggs farm - an idea that was born in the sandy deserts of Iraq in 2003. Cal shares his story from military to civilian life, and finding a newfound comraderie in the Homegrown by Heroes program for his West Virginia farm and distillery oper...
Jul 25, 2018•30 min•Ep. 27
Entrepreneurship meets food science on this episode of The Tidbit with Dr. Eric Schulze — VP of Product and Regulation at one of the leading cell-based meat companies, Memphis Meats. We talk manufacturing of cell-based meat and its impact on our future. Plus his tips on building a business without a predetermined roadmap, and how to make the world more creatively nerdy.
Jul 17, 2018•31 min•Ep. 26
Drink Local. Live Wild. This is the motto of Wild Kombucha. Over the past 3 years, they've has seen a 200 percent increase in sales with zero dollars of outside investment. We sit down with Sid Sharma, Co-Owner of Wild Kombucha to talk about starting a food manufacturing business in the Mid-Atlantic, where that motto comes from, and their journey from starting in a garage to growing into a 4,000 sq. ft. brewery in Timonium — where they now produce 4,000 bottles a week for stores such as Whole Fo...
Jul 10, 2018•30 min•Ep. 25
It takes a special team to take a classic food item and bring a new vibe to its creation. The nostalgia of a menu you fondly recognize and love, but with a unique spin. This is what our guest today has a special knack for crafting. On this episode, we sit down with Andrew Dana, the owner of the acclaimed Timber Pizza Company (a featured 2017 Best New Restaurant in Bon Appétit) and Call Your Mother Deli to chat product development, iterating with customer feedback in mind, and best practices for ...
Jun 26, 2018•33 min•Ep. 24
Arabbing is a long-standing, locally-specific African American tradition out of Baltimore. An Arabber is a street vendor selling fruits and vegetables from a colorful, horse-drawn cart. Once a common sight in American East Coast cities, only a handful of Arabbers still walk the streets of Baltimore. On this episode, we sit down with James Chase, President of the Arabbers Preservation Society and an Arabber himself; and Holden Warren, filmmaker and producer of John & James - a documentary sho...
Jun 19, 2018•31 min•Ep. 23
Entrepreneur Spotlight: we welcome another incredible mission-driven entrepreneur on The Tidbit that is tackling a huge problem at the intersection of nutrition, dietetics and agriculture. Tambra Raye Stevenson is the founder and CEO of WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition, Dietetics, and Agriculture, an organization inspiring a new generation of women and girls to become ‘food sheroes’ in Africa and Diaspora.
Jun 12, 2018•30 min•Ep. 22
Our brains process not only stories, but the human emotions behind them. In this episode, we discuss with expert storyteller Nate Mook the importance of aligning your product, your business with a compelling brand narrative. Nate has worked with Senators, CEOs, and Entrepreneurs on crafting their stories on and offline through digital media, documentary film, and public speaking forums like TED.
Jun 05, 2018•30 min•Ep. 21
On The Tidbit, we talk a lot about building businesses for both profit and purpose. But how do you measure your impact? What are ways in which you can create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to tangibly see the results you're driving? This episode: we sit down with Mark Frieden of Crossbow Strategies - a firm that works with socially-conscious busineses on becoming B Corp certified and creating B Impact Assessments.
May 29, 2018•32 min•Ep. 20
