Join us for an inspiring, informative breakfast co-hosted by Lolly Occhino, Senior Food Scientist at the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI), and Kayla Yang-Best, Founder of Seasoned Specialty Food Market and The Market Entry Fund (TMEF).
Dive deeper into the support they offer for local Consumer Packaged Good (CPG) food businesses, including efforts to advance woman-owned and underrepresented food businesses, and how you can join in and help sustain the impact.
Enjoy a light breakfast prepared with ingredients or products from local makers, featuring coffee and tea from a local roaster and mixologist! And of course, you’ll have plenty of time to shop for your favorite local brands at the Seasoned Specialty Food Market!
Kayla Yang-Best, is a cross-sector social entrepreneur, with an innovative, enterprising and entrepreneurial approach to creating social and economic benefits with and for traditionally underrepresented and marginalized populations. Currently, she is Founder and CEO of Seasoned Specialty Foods, a social benefit grocery/co-retailer that enables underrepresented food businesses and their products to enter and thrive in the CPG marketplace. She is also Founder and CEO of The Market Entry Fund, a nonprofit that advances equity and inclusion in local food supply chains, by providing grants and business/manufacturing solutions to underrepresented micro manufacturers and processors of food.
Prior to embracing social entrepreneurship full-time, Kayla spent more than 20 years leading strategic operations and philanthropic investments for companies and organizations like Bush Foundation, Cargill and the Cargill Foundation, United Way, and international NGOs in Thailand and India. Kayla’s background includes law, international development and public administration, among others. She is active in communities where she works and lives and serves on the Boards of local nonprofits that include the Minnesota State Foundation and Rooted Philanthropy.
Lolly Occhino, Senior Food Scientist at Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI), co-leads the organization’s food program. She conducts and manages client-requested applied research and technical assistance and facilitates the successful execution and development of public-domain initiatives focused on transforming Minnesota’s rich agricultural products into sustainable food businesses through science. With many years of research and development experience at both large and small companies, Lolly has expertise in all areas of food product development including ingredient functionality, building food safety into product design, and optimizing a food’s sensory appeal to the target consumer. In addition to food science, Lolly has a strong business background and advises clients on issues of consumer preference, scalability, and retail sales.
Lolly was appointed to serve on the Minnesota Food Safety and Defense Taskforce and is a Technical Committee member of the Plant Protein Innovation Center at the University of Minnesota. She is a judge for the annual MN Cup competition in the Food/Agriculture/Beverage division and is a member of the Board of Directors for The Market Entry Fund. Lolly earned a M.S. in Food Science from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in Food Science from the University of Wisconsin.
At this illuminating meeting, we will hear from Kayla about how her organizations’ combined mission has enabled underrepresented food businesses to enter and thrive in the market, and learn more about Lolly’s experience on The Market Entry Board as well as the support AURI offers to small food businesses.
A light breakfast prepared with ingredients or products from local makers, as well as coffee and teas from a local roaster and mixologist, will be served. We will close out the morning with time to explore and shop the local food brands at the Food Market!
Reserve your spot today to learn about these great resources for food entrepreneurs. Capacity at this meeting is limited and spots will go fast!
Location: Seasoned Specialty Food Market & Deli, 1136 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105. We will be in the back patio of the store.
Parking: Off-street parking on Grand Ave and cross streets. Additional (private lot) parking may be available. More details will available closer to the event date.
We can’t wait to see you there!