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FREDERICK’S SCHOOL OF FOOD teaches business skills to budding entrepreneurs BY GINA GALLUCCI-WHITE
Though that special family dish you make for family and friends always gets rave reviews, there are many steps between making food for fun and creating a successful food business to sell that delicious creation. Enter the School of Food, which began in Baltimore, spread to Washington, D.C., and began in Frederick in 2020. This is thanks to partnerships with Frederick County and the City of Frederick’s economic development departments, Frederick’s Downtown Frederick Partnership and Platinum PR. A School of Food passport gives each student unlimited access to every workshop, e-course, panel discussion, and networking opportunity through November 2021. Curriculum includes opportunities to learn about crafting a strong business foundation, finding a target audience, food safety and Maryland state health regulations, packaging and labeling laws, constructing a financial model and marketing strategy, as well as the basics of accounting and marketing. Kim Bryden, CEO and founder of the food and beverage firm Cureate, said she noticed an education gap among small business food vendors while working for a variety of food service businesses over the years, and believes School of Food can help fill that gaps. “People were really good at producing their goods, and we have lots of programs that help with culinary skills, but I saw a lack in education around the business side of running a food business,” she says. Bryden partnered with a workforce development nonprofit to create the curriculum for School of Food in 2015.
“We saw this opportunity to be very specific about the food industry because as you are growing, there are very specific things you need to know to tap into the food industry,” she said. Students may enroll in one class or buy a passport which allows them to participate in the year-long curriculum. These will be sold until the beginning of April. PHOTOS COURTESY OF SCHOOL OF FOOD
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