Skip to main content

amy

Mar 26, 2020

Food Entrepreneur Strategies Following COVID-19

As society navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer behavior is indicating where innovation and technology might move after all this is under control. A recent blog by CB Insights inspired me to give some thought to how this applies to NCFIL clients and their opportunities for future development. Product sales are spiking for mindfulness supplements, aromatherapy, cannabis-infused foods and immunostimulatory supplements.…

Mar 25, 2020

NCFIL Director’s Perspective: March 2020

Welcome to the March NCFIL Director’s Perspective. The global situation of dealing with coronavirus has caused tremendous disruptions in all of our lives, but it will certainly not curtail people’s need to eat. The food industry is responding to the best of its ability despite challenges with our supply chains. Thank goodness chickens continue to lay eggs,…

Mar 12, 2020

NCFIL Pilot Plant Status

This post offers a quick update on the status of operations in the NCFIL Pilot Plant. Following our ribbon cutting ceremony in November, an engineering issue was discovered that has impacted our ability to install remaining equipment and be in full operation.  This issue is currently being rectified, and the solution should be completed by mid-April.…

Feb 12, 2020

FBNS + NCFIL: From Vision to Realization

NC State’s Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences (FBNS) Department was involved with NCFIL since Day One—instrumental in its original vision, active in its thoughtful development and influential in its promising future.  NC’s Future in Food Manufacturing  Previous FBNS Department Head Dr. Chris Daubert helped launch the NC Food Processing and Manufacturing Initiative, funded by the NC General Assembly in…

Jan 29, 2020

NCFIL Director’s Report: 2020 Predictions

Welcome to our first NCFIL Briefing. We will post bimonthly reports offering information about facility activities, plant-based ingredients and foods updates, food industry trends and entrepreneurial tips. A Fruitful Start   2020 is off to a promising start. So is NCFIL. Following NCFIL’s November ribbon cutting ceremony and open house, we received considerable publicity. That translated…

Jan 22, 2020

EDPNC + NCFIL: Ready to Promote

Two entities. One goal. Support individuals and companies seeking to start, grow or relocate a new or existing business to North Carolina.  The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) and the NC Food Innovation Lab (NCFIL) both promote NCFIL as a statewide asset to many audiences, including entrepreneurs seeking assistance with product development or established companies looking…

Jan 15, 2020

NC Food Innovation Lab: We’ve Launched

And just like that. We’re open for business!  Of course, the opening of the NC Food Innovation Lab (NCFIL) was six years in the making, and on this day of celebration, it definitely showed. From the welcoming staff to the shiny new equipment, NCFIL impressed its Open House attendees on Thursday, November 14, 2019.  According to NCFIL…

Dec 3, 2019

Cindy Calhoun: Enthusiastic Team Player

An avid mentor, volunteer and sports enthusiast, NCFIL Senior Food Scientist Cindy Calhoun is a bona fide team player, a spirit that bodes well for this innovative lab. As a previous food entrepreneur herself, Cindy looks forward to offering NCFIL clients guidance, support and encouragement. Product Development Lab Starting Line-Up  NCFIL helps both startups and established…

Oct 21, 2019

Celeste Brogdon: Developing Change

Celeste Brogdon grew up working in her family’s large vegetable garden. Every summer she helped her mother “put up” green beans, tomatoes, apple sauce and spaghetti sauce at the Glade Hill Community Cannery in Franklin County, Virginia. Since it opened in 1941, Celeste’s family has canned thousands of jars of vegetables and sauce, a job made easier…

Sep 25, 2019

Food Innovation At Its Finest

The recent partnership of Ripe Revival and SinnoVita, using technology patented at NC State, is the exact type of food innovation that the NC Food Innovation Lab hopes to inspire once our doors open this November. Ripe Revival owners and Poole College of Management alumni Laura Hearn and Will Kornegay sought to make use of the leftovers from farms and food processors. Entrepreneurs and researchers,…