NEW YORK, NY (February 11, 2025) The Specialty Food Association is excited to announce that the first cohort of its Maker Prep Course, a collaborative six-month educational program, graduated at the 2025 Winter Fancy Food Show, the first major expo of the year for the food industry, which took place from January 19-21 in Las Vegas.
Designed to provide foundational knowledge and guidance to up-and-coming specialty food manufacturers in set groups, Maker Prep Course comprised in-person and virtual learning, expert coaching, and peer-to-peer collaboration to provide participants with a thorough understanding of how to launch, market, and distribute their products.
"SFA is fully committed to supporting the early-stage specialty food makers who create so much innovation and excitement, and part of that support comes through demystifying the CPG industry, making it more approachable and navigable," said Phil Robinson, SVP of Member Development at SFA. "Core to our mission is transformative education like Maker Prep Course. The SFA team is thrilled to see this cohort graduate with the tools to succeed in our $207 billion industry."
The graduates in the Winter 2025 Class included:
That’s My Jam, Lisa White
Peepal People, Alyzeh Rizvi
La Gringuita, Caroline McGinley
Black Girl Tamales, Chef LaToya Larkin
The Daltas Group LLC, Christian Holslin
Girls Can Grill, Christie Vanover
GLOBETROTTER GRANOLA, Dara Rosenfeld
True Treats LLC, Dawn Truesdell & Olivia Truesdell
Big Mama's Foods, Ethan Shapiro
The Bread Box Bakery, Matlhogonolo Ledwaba
Indigenous Delights, Mpho Mogodiri
Beituti, Rawia Abdel Samad
Soronko Kitchen, Samantha Wontumi
Southern Caramel, Sarah Smith
Muria Foods, Shyela Malani
Bake Your Mark, LLC, Stufona D. Latta;
Hoppy Valley Farm, Ann Bush & Jarred Bush
Kinship Milk Tea, Caitlin Cash
Un Chin! Seasoning Co., Grace Urena
Mr. Joe Foods LLC, Jean Joseph
Elgon Nuts, Gladys Sitati & Joseph W Sitati
Columbia Grain, Karen Matsuoka & Shannon McKinney
CookIt Media, Laurie Buckle
Revvl, Lexx + Livv Mills
Jeepney, Li Joan Baculi
Personal Culinary Solutions LLC, Lori Vannelli
Norrico Naturals, Venus Ramos
Local to Global Foods, Thulani Mlamb
Lettuce Eatz, Melissa G. Monroe
Enrollment in Maker Prep Course included:
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Online course programming from July 2024 to January 2025, including knowledge building through digital educational materials, class discussions in a dedicated group chat platform, personal exploration prompts to apply concepts to participants’ businesses, and live coaching sessions with industry experts once per month.
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Dedicated educational sessions, tours, and other programs at the 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show
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One-year Tier 1 membership for non-SFA members
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Badges for the 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show and 2025 Winter Fancy Food Show
The 2025 Winter Fancy Food Show also saw the kick-off of the next Maker Prep Course group: the Class of Summer 2025. For information or to register for the Class of Summer 2025 or future Maker Prep cohorts, click here.
About the Specialty Food Association
The Specialty Food Association (SFA) was founded in 1952 and is the not-for-profit trade association of the $207-billion specialty food industry. Representing more than 4,000 businesses worldwide, SFA champions industry participation and success for a diverse community of makers, buyers, importers, distributors, and service providers by developing resources, information, education, and events that celebrate innovation and inclusivity. SFA owns and operates the Summer Fancy Food Show, Winter FancyFaire*, and the sofi™ Awards, which have honored excellence in specialty food and beverage annually since 1972. SFA also produces the e-newsletter Specialty Food SmartBrief, the Trendspotter Panel annual predictions and Show reports, the State of the Specialty Food Industry Report, and Today's Specialty Food Consumer research. Find out more at Specialtyfood.com, and connect with SFA on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X.