The New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) 2020 Annual Report spotlights the many stories of outreach and resilience during COVID-19. To read more, see the NJAES 2020 Annual Report. As New Jersey declared a state of emergency to contain the spread of COVID-19, the food industry had to quickly adjust its go-to-market strategies and just […]
FIC Client Simply Good Jars CEO Appears on New “Shark Tank” Episode
Jared Cannon pitched his healthy meal-in-a-jar company to the famed venture capitalists on March 5th. Rutgers Food Innovation Center (FIC) client Simply Good Jars appeared on “Shark Tank” at the beginning of March and was successful in getting a $500,000 investment from Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner! “Jared Cannon approached the Rutgers FIC after seeing […]
Specialty Foods Association Announced Winners of its 2020 Competition held at Rutgers Food Innovation Center
The Specialty Food Association (SFA) completed its 2020 sofi™ Awards judging, which was hosted this year by the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University (FIC) in Bridgeton, NJ. On August 25, SFA announced the winners of its 48th annual sofi™ Awards competition, resulting in 157 winners across 49 categories from around the world. “The sofi™ Awards […]
Rutgers Food Innovation Center Client Wins New Jersey Immigrant Entrepreneur Award
Sandeep Agarwal, president & CEO of Pure Indian Foods, a client of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center (FIC), was the recipient of the Caspar Wistar Award for Growth, one of the New Jersey Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards presented by the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce (MCRCC) and Einstein Alley, a private, non-profit economic development initiative […]
Food Innovation Center Offers Food Business Basics Workshop and Training Session for Food Entrepreneurs
The Food Innovation Center at Rutgers is having a Food Business Basics Workshop and Training Session for early stage entrepreneurs on Monday, September 9 from 9:00am-5:00pm at the Rutgers EcoComplex. Food Business Basics is a unique opportunity for food entrepreneurs to learn critical aspects of entering or growing their business in the prepared food and […]
Taste testing: The FIC deepens partnerships with hosts of the Fancy Food Show
Stories from the Rutgers Food Innovation Center Six years ago, David Fullner and Daniel Auld had their hands full with a son born eight weeks premature. A focus on his diet to keep him healthy inspired them to blend their own baby food, with the added benefit of introducing him to real, not-too-sweet flavors to […]
Food and Beverage Manufacturers of All Sizes Find Support and Solutions at the Rutgers Food Innovation Center
For nearly two decades, entrepreneurs developing plant-based meat alternatives, gluten-free breads, functional beverages and many ethnic specialties have leveraged resources at the Rutgers Food Innovation Center to grow their businesses. Startups considering a move to the Rutgers Food Innovation Center can now apply for rent support through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s (NJEDA’s) NJ […]
A Little Clarity: Health Woes Draw an IT Professional Back to Historical Family Food Biz
Stories from the Rutgers Food Innovation Center Ghee, or clarified butter, has been sold in India for thousands of years. The Agarwal family has been selling it for 130 of those years out of a small shop in the northern Indian town of Hisar, and for the last 10 years, from a business based at […]
Out Here in the Fields: Viggiano and Leger Found Help for their Business ‘in the Thick of the Tomato Patch’
Stories from the Rutgers Food Innovation Center There were a few extra tomatoes. Well, 600 pounds extra. It was enough for Theresa Viggiano and Patrick Leger to experiment with his mother’s ketchup recipe and sell it at the honor-based farm stand at the end of their driveway in 2011. Viggiano was in grad school at […]
From Concept to Creation, FIC is a ‘One-Stop Shop’
Stories from the Rutgers Food Innovation Center – This is the first of a monthly series on companies spun out of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center. Have you ever spotted Soupman products in your local grocery store? What about the plant-based Impossible Burger on the menu at any of 5,000 eateries from Michelin star restaurants […]
