On October 19th, Maine’s food business community will discuss business best practices and trends, connect with like minded colleagues and celebrate each others successes.
New Ticket Price! $75 Members + $25 Additional Employees
$100 Food Industry Community – General Admission
Complimentary Marketplace Tabletops ~ Feature your product in the menu!
#MFMB2016 SUMMIT AGENDA
9 a.m. Registration
Marketplace & Scholarship Auction Preview
9:30 a.m. Welcome & Annual Meeting
A Year in Review, Adopt New 3-year Strategic Plan & Elect Board Directors
10:15 a.m. Make Your Voice Heard – Election Day November 8, 2016 – What’s at Stake?
Facts behind the races, five-ballot questions, plus what are burgeoning issues on the horizon. Guests Senator Susan Collins and Greg Ferrara of the National Grocers Association.
11:30 a.m. Marketplace & Maine Feast Luncheon
Grab your shopping bag and place your orders! View, taste and enjoy exclusive Summit discounts!
12:15 p.m. Marketplace Vendors’ Product & Service Introductions
Hear new to the market entrepreneurs and established businesses alike give their 1-minute “elevator speech”. Emcee: Keith McBride, Freeport Economic Development.
1:00 p.m. Tracking Flavor Trends
Emerging food and beverage trends will blow your mind! Contributors: Brian Todd of The Food Institute, John Rebar of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and Louis Bassano of the University of Maine.
2:00 p.m. Technology Innovation is Driving Change
Technology is driving change faster than businesses can keep up with, and consumers are more demanding than ever. Speakers: Neil Spillane of Food Fork Lab, Kiersten Scarpati of VONT ETHOS and Shannon Kinney of Dream Local.
3:15 p.m. Debt & Equity: Funding your Business
New approaches to fund your start-up or expansion. Hear what these experts have to say about the flow of Maine capital. Presenters: Bill Card of the Small Business Administration will facilitate a panel with Eric Holstein of Food Fork Lab, Stephen Lovejoy of the Small Business Development Centers, Skip Bates of Bangor Savings Bank, and Gray Harris, CEI.
4:15 p.m. Marketplace Spirits Tastings & Pairings
Maine Spirits Tasting. Join Gregg Mineo, Tim Poulin, BABLO, Sheila Gibbons and Don Potter, Maine Spirits, and David Woods, Wiggly Bridge in this interactive tastings and pairings!
5:00 p.m. Awards & 2016 Member Highlights
Presented by Jim Lesser, President of Maine Grocers & Food Producers Association