February 20th, 2018
8:30am-5:00pm
Bellingham Technical College, Settlemeyer Hall
The Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting is NW Washington’s premier FOOD & FARM BIZ CONFERENCE. Join us for another great year!
Gather together with more than 175 farmers, fishers, chefs, grocery buyers, food artisans, processors, and distributors for a day filled with valuable networking and connection opportunities.
Experience a day full of cutting edge education workshops, a vibrant expo, happy hour mixer, one-on-one producer and buyer consultations, and delicious, 7-course, locally-sourced lunch.
Past attendees reported an average of 6 new sales connections as a result of the event, and the Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting in total generates $500,000 in new sales each year.
Early bird ends Jan.19th
| 8:30 – 9:00 | Registration |
| 9:00 – 9:05 | Welcome from Mayor Kelli Linville |
| 9:05 – 9:15 | Day Overview & Food Trends Updates Sara Southerland, Sustainable Connections |
| 9:00 – 10:00
| Welcome & Keynote Address: Growing our Regional Food Infrastructure Patsy Martin, Port of Skagit County Mauri Ingram, Whatcom Community Foundation Skagit County is putting NW Washington on the map with their growing support for local agriculture and food industries. With innovative value-added food cluster developments and a focus on emerging supply chain infrastructure, hear from Port of Skagit Executive Director Patsy Martin on what’s working, what’s up and coming, and ideas for growing our regional food economy. Mauri Ingram, CEO of the Whatcom Community Foundation will share developments of a local food campus concept in the new Bellingham waterfront development that could advance regional growth for Whatcom County and beyond. |
| 10:00 – 10:45
| Speed Networking |
| 10:45 – 11:00
| Refreshment Break |
| 11:00 – 12:00
| Breakout Sessions A. Marketing 201 – Know your Customer, Grow your Business B. What Buyers Want – Demystify Growing your Wholesale Market C. Building The Perfect Circle – Creating a Locally Sourced Menu + Downsizing Food Waste
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| 12:00 – 1:00
| Lunch! From the NW WA Chef’s Collective + BTC Culinary Students |
| 1:00 – 2:30
| Entrepreneur Hot Seat Panel Wes Hermann, Woods Coffee Azizi Tookas, Brandywine Kitchen Harley Soltes, Bow Hill Blueberries Maria Stavrakas Dandelion Organic Delivery Renee Bourgault Breadfarm Facilitator: Diana Ambauen-Meade, Scratch and Peck Feeds |
| 2:30 – 3:45 | One-on-One Producer/Buyer Consultations + Non-profit Connections activity (click to see list of attending buyers) Get out your products, pull out your business cards – this is a highlight of the Farm-to-Table Trade Meeting each year! The following wholesale buyers sit at round tables, and in 10-minute segments, producers will have a chance to visit with buyers and grow new connections.
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| 3:45 – 5:00 | Happy Hour Mixer at Café Culinaire – Bites and sips from local artisans |
Early bird ends Jan.19th
Thank you to our event sponsors!
Underwriting Sponsor
Lead Sponsors
Supporting Sponsors
