Project Overview
NJ farmers are primarily small scale seasonal multi-crop growers that are increasingly challenged both domestically by large scale year round mono-crop growers and internationally by imports. To develop sustainable and profitable growing businesses, NJ farmers are developing value-added agricultural products; examples of which include fresh-cut vegetables and pre-trimmed microwaveable packaged asparagus. The Rutgers Food Innovation Center provides a wide range of assistance to farmers, food entrepreneurs and food manufacturers to bring a product from concept to commercialization. Farmers considering value-added production and marketing are challenged by a lack of information and lack of understanding of product trends and marketing. To adress these issues the Rutgers Food Innovation Center developed and conducted a series of workshops. They included:
• Understanding Trends in the Marketplace
• Distributors & Distribution
• Competitors & Competition
• Product Development Process
• Business & Marketing Plans
A comprehensive promotional and marketing plan was assembled for this series of seminars.
Flyers were mailed to hundred of agricultural producers in the state. Press releases were composed and publicized by local newspapers. The seminars were also promoted by Rutgers Agricultural Extension Agents, by Rutgers Office of Continuing Education and USDA Rural Development- NJ. Response exceeded expectations with 24 to 42 attendees participating in each workshop.
Knowedge learned was measured using 2 key methods: 1) a self-rated questionnaire that compared knowledge prior to and after the presentation. The Rutgers Food Innovation Center also reviewed whether the information that was presented in each workshop was applied to their business and whether it affected sales after six months. 90% of respondents stated that they applied the information and 22% stated that the information presented positively affected their sales. For a complete breakdown of information shared and results achieved please see "Educational Materials and Evaluations and Reports" sections of this report.
Number of Participants: 61
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
There are no promotional materials available for this project.
EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
There are no educational materials available for this project.
REPORTS & EVALUATIONS
There are no reports or evaluations available for this project.