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PURDUE LAUNCHES THE NEW INSTITUTE FOOD PRODUCT INNOVATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION
Students and staff part of the Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute (FEMI) at Purdue University work with Boilermaker Gold hot sauce in preparation for bottling.


Source: Purdue University news release

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A newly formed institute at Purdue University is offering training and development support to agriculture producers with novel food and beverage product ideas. The new Institute for Food Product Innovation and Commercialization is funded by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

"This grant is focused on farmers who want to add value to their product," said Dharmendra Mishra, institute director and associate professor of food science. Entrepreneurs face many steps and challenges in converting commodity crops into new products for retail sales. "We want to remove those hurdles for farmer-entrepreneurs," he said.

A joint effort of Purdue's departments of Food Science and Agricultural Economics, the institute is part of the USDA Agriculture Innovation Center Program.

"It's bringing together the technical expertise on food manufacturing and food safety from food science, and the marketing, entrepreneurship and business management strengths of ag econ," said Kenneth Foster, the institute's assistant director and professor of agricultural economics.

Dairy farmers might want to produce ice cream or high-protein beverages. Growers of tomatoes and jalapenos might want to market a salsa. Or a beekeeper who sells honey may wish to develop a syrup as well.

Whatever the value-added product, the new institute can help train rural entrepreneurs in developing a recipe, making their product, educating them about the safety factors they need to control, and assessing their potential market.

"There's only so much agricultural commodity you can produce," said Foster, who runs a beekeeping and honey business as his grandfather and father did before him. And that commodity likewise has value limits.

"We put it on a truck, barge, train or plane and we ship it somewhere else and people add value to it," Foster said. "What can we do to support value-adding at the local level so more of that stays in the local community where the product is produced?"

To read the entire article click here.

Cups of Purdue’s ice cream Boiler Chips and One Giant Scoop, developed in 2023 by the Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute (FEMI).


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