Save the date! The third annual Big Connecticut Food Event is returning on Saturday 3/1/25 at the Yale School of Management in New Haven. Get an attendee ticket here.
About the event
The Big Connecticut Food Event is an annual one-day event that gathers CPG/wholesale-focused food & beverage brands and other key stakeholders spanning the Connecticut food entrepreneurship ecosystem to network, share ideas, and showcase products and services.
Our goal is to support the development of the state’s entrepreneurship pipeline so it produces multiple food and beverage brands each year that exceed $2mil in annual sales.
The upcoming Big Connecticut Food Event will take place on Saturday 3/1/25 at the Yale School of Management in New Haven.
Agenda
10am - 12pm, One-on-one expert coaching (signup here)
12 - 3pm, Sampling and tabling
12:15 - 12:30pm, Opening remarks
12:30 - 1:15pm, Effective partnerships between brands and procurement teams
Dave Placzek, Big Y
Marla Tremsky, Bozzuto's
Eric Nilsson, Geissler's Supermarket
Jamal Robinson, New England Brewing Co
Moderated by Kimberly Allardyce, Naturally New England
1:15 - 2pm, Navigating the fundraising landscape
Christine Bascetta, Walden Mutual Bank
Danny Qiao, Connecticut Innovations
Denise Whitford, CT Small Business Development Center
Moderated by Kyle Jensen, Yale School of Management
2 - 2:45pm, Building support infrastructure for emerging food & bev brands
Sarah Miller, CitySeed
Commonwealth Kitchen, Jen Faigel,
Jennifer Mathieu, UConn CCEI
Caitlin Taylor, Midcourse Design & Development
Moderated by Erica Phillips, CT Mirror
3 - 5pm, Pitch competition
Master of ceremonies
Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad, My People Community Services
Brand participants
860 Kombucha
Kinney Lane Foods
Bare Life
Mama Hu’s
Stylish Spoon
Judges
Marla Tremsky, Bozzuto’s
Iliana Del Valle-Colón, Big Y
John Lawson, Whole Foods Market
Wayne Pesce, Connecticut Food Association
5-6pm, Reception and announcement of pitch competition winners
$50k+ pitch competition
One-on-one coaching
30+ brands sampling & tabling
Industry leader panel discussions
Let's get CT brands on the shelf
🛒
Let's get CT brands on the shelf 🛒
Info for food & bev brands
See below for information on the process and requirements for food & bev brands that would like to participate in the pitch competition, tabling & sampling. Please note that the pitch competition and tabling/sampling are only available for CPG/wholesale-focused brands (i.e a product sold in a grocer).
Participation process
Submit an application at ctfoodevent.com/participate.
Applications are scored by our pitch competition judges.
Finalists: The top 5 scoring brands will be invited to participate in the pitch competition and set up a table at the event.
Semi-finalists: The next 25 highest-scoring brands after the finalists will also be invited to set up sampling tables at the event.
We will respond to you by 1/15/25 with the results of your application.
Judging criteria for applications
Target market -- Addressable target market is large and/or growing, or is a high-priced niche. Customer is well-defined.
Solution -- Product is differentiated vs. competition: better, faster, cheaper, quality, efficient, convenient, focused.
Team/board/advisors -- Evidence of more than just founder-led and -run. Relevant industry knowledge, skills, leadership experience, key relationships, prior successes and/or failures
Traction -- Stated planned milestones, minimal viable product built, market validation, key success metrics, revenue growth, partners
Impact on the company -- Would this company stand to gain significant advancement and opportunities by being featured at our event? Will an award help them move their stated project along and help take the company further?
Women- or BIPOC-owned -- Business owners represent one or more sytemically disadvantaged identities (race, gender, etc..)
Sustainable or regenerative -- Sustainable/regenerative practices are a significant component of product and business (ingredient sourcing, packaging, energy use..)
Sponsor
Now accepting sponsorship requests for The Big Connecticut Food Event!
Review our sponsorship levels in the image below, and then head to our participation request page and select Sponsorship within the participation format dropdown menu.
Feel free to reach out at hi@ctfoodevent.com with any questions related to sponsorship.
2024 event key metrics
225 attendees (not including 85 attendees left on waitlist due to space constraints)
34 applications from emerging Connecticut food & bev brands interested in participating in the pitch competition
15 Connecticut food & bev brands sampling & tabling at event
$50k in pitch competition prizes distributed to 5 brands
6 major grocers & distributors with procurement leadership in attendance.
2025 event projections
300+ attendees
50+ applications from emerging Connecticut food & bev brands interested in participating in the pitch competition
30+ Connecticut food & bev brands sampling & tabling at event
$50k in pitch competition & tabling prizes
10 major grocers & distributors with procurement leadership in attendance
In the news
Some context
Connecticut has made substantial progress in developing infrastructure for entrepreneurs in the state’s food and beverage industry. Multiple commercial kitchens, incubators and funding programs now span our small state and have generated interest within the regional industry.
Work remains to remove friction in the Connecticut food entrepreneurship pipeline, including stronger links with wholesale buyers and solutions providers, and more effective support for women and BIPOC entrepreneurs and businesses pursuing sustainable or regenerative processes.
The Big Connecticut Food Event is designed to provide opportunities for emerging food and beverage brands to connect with the expertise that they’re going to need on their journeys, and for strategic and industry partners to meet the growing community of promising brands.
Our goal is to support the development of Connecticut’s entrepreneurship pipeline so it produces multiple food and beverage brands every year that each exceed $2 million in annual sales.
It takes a village
The Big Connecticut Food Event is made possible by a growing network of organizations throughout the region.
