These books and guides are resources, curated and vetted by our staff, that our partners and other people in our network have produced to assist food, beverage and value-added agriculture businesses. These are currently all free. Learn more about our Premium Subscription to unlock everything Edible-Alpha® has to offer.
Books or Guide
What is Intellectual Property, Anyway?
5 minute Free read by Pie Shell
Patents, branding, and copyright... If you want to protect something, or to stop someone from doing the same thing that you’re doing in your food business, the only way to do that in the United States (and abroad) is through IP law. An IP attorney will help you ensure that no one has made it before, branded it in a similar way to yours, or created it before you did.
Books or Guide about Legal for businesses that are Pre-Venture | Startups
Demystifying Funding Terminology
5 minute Free read by New Hope Network
Most entrepreneurs start out with friends and family funding (essentially people they know who will take a risk with them) or else they "bootstrap" their company, self-financing from the owner(s) and free cash flow. However, in food, this doesn't get you very far - food businesses need outside capital, usually from a variety of sources, to compete.
Books or Guide about Raising Capital for businesses that are Pre-Venture | Startups
Adding Value to Farm Products: The Legal Issues
26 pages of Free report content by Farm Commons
The decision to add a value-added line is a serious one. There is no single set of laws that apply to value-added products and no single definition of a value added product. Instead, each law may have its own specific definition. This guide helps you to navigate what to look for in terms of legal implications when you are adding value to your products.
Books or Guide about Operations for businesses that are Growing and Scaling
Host Safer, More Legally Secure On-Farm Events
19 pages of Free report content by Farm Commons
Events are a wonderful way for farmers to deepen their connection with customers. To meet these goals, farmers must make sure that hosting events does not expose the farmer to greater legal liability. If things go wrong, on-farm events can be create tremendous legal problems.
Books or Guide about Operations for businesses that are Growing and Scaling
Essential Questions and Steps For Food Startups
Free checklist by Adam Haen
All food and beverage businesses have an overwhelming amount of stuff that they have to sort through to launch their business. These questions help new and aspiring food and beverage business owners navigate the plethora of considerations, everything from incorporation to permits to designing your business to be defensibly unique.
Books or Guide about Operations for businesses that are Pre-Venture | Startups
Direct Sales of Farm Food – USDA 2015 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey
44 pages of Free report content + lots of excel data by USDA
From the USDA 2015 Local Food Marketing Practices Survey: In 2015, farmers produced and sold $8.7 billion of edible food commodities directly to consumers, retailers, institutions, and a variety of local food intermediaries such as distributors and wholesalers that market and sell locally branded products.
Books or Guide about Operations for businesses that are Growing and Scaling
Community Supported Agriculture – New Models for Changing Markets
68 pages of Free report content by USDA
The CSA business model has evolved significantly. New products, season extensions, multi-farm collaborations, new shareholder groups, marketing collaborations, innovative aggregation and delivery strategies, new urban production connections, and health and wellness alliances are among the current trends reshaping the CSA business.
Books or Guide about Business Models for businesses that are Growing and Scaling
Are You Ready to Start a CSA?
8 pages of Free report content by University of Tennessee Extension
Marketing is vital to the potential success of a direct marketing enterprise, including that of CSAs. Marketing is also inherent to many drivers of profitability including managing costs, production quality and efficiency, pricing for profit, achieving some minimum level of sales volume, building repeat customers, and managing risk.
Books or Guide about Business Models for businesses that are Pre-Venture
A Farmer’s Guide To A Pick-Your-Own Operation
28 pages of Free report content by University of Tennessee Extension
Producers interested in a Pick Your Own (PYO) farming business model should analyze whether or not market potential exists before developing the enterprise. Farmers should conduct a market analysis to determine if a potentially profitable market exists for their PYO.
Books or Guide about Business Models for businesses that are Growing and Scaling
Wisconsin Local Food Marketing Guide
106 pages of Free report content by Wisconsin DATCP
How do you get started in local food production and marketing? What do you need to consider? Like any business venture, establishing the entire concept and developing the initial steps may seem overwhelming. You must learn a whole new set of skills and be proficient at them for your business to succeed.
Books or Guide about Operations for businesses that are Pre-Venture | Startups
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