Utah’s Own summit encourages local entrepreneurs to market products

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A Utah’s Own Workshop was held for Emery and Carbon counties on Aug. 13. The summit began with an introduction of what the Utah’s Own program is all about. Louann Adams the commissioner of agriculture for Utah said there have been seven summits so far and there will be 14 overall. The Balanced Rock Eatery in Helper catered the event, Adams pointed out the restaurant uses local products and buys from local vendors. She said these are the local companies we need to support, those that support each other. The Balanced Rock Eatery also offers locally made jam for sale at their location and across the street at their coffee shop.
Adams said they have had such good response from their summits. People across the state are becoming more excited about shopping locally and supporting Utah based businesses. Utah’s Own can help participants focus and take their products from just an idea and market it internationally.
She introduced Ryan Murray from the local Small Business Development Center. Those looking to start or grow a business are encouraged to start with the SMDC. He said he has been in the Emery and Carbon county area for less than a year, but in that time he’s come to appreciate the value of local. There are many local products unique to this area that can flourish with a marketing strategy. The SMDC offers coaching and training. They will talk to you about the feasibility of getting your product out there. They provide events, resources and can connect you to the specific training you need to make your product or business a success or at least give it a fighting chance.
The SMDC is here to help you start, grow and expand your business. He said Castle Country has a unique culture with a lot of personality, old mining towns and history, railroad history, scenic areas and a multi-cultured society make the area unique. There are many local providers here not seen anywhere else. “This is what we need to share with others passing through and encourage them to stay and experience it. In that area, we aren’t living up to our potential. “This is the beginning, you are the pioneers of local. Share resources with the people that are not here,” said Murray.
Karin Allen is a food specialist for Utah State and she works with the regulatory aspects of getting a new product to market. She helps with labeling and the nutrition facts concerning a product. She can also give advice on packaging and making a product shelf stable.
Jed Christensen is the Utah’s Own program supervisor. He said the Utah’s Own program is increasing the quality of life for all Utahns. It encourages small business and creates jobs which in return creates tax revenue. Utah’s Own brings quality products to the consumers and helps protect the environment and strengthen the economy. People want to know where their food is coming from, local is almost as popular as organic. Benefits of local also include protecting habitat for wildlife, protecting space for farming and farmers and ranchers are involved in creating healthy watersheds for our state.
Christensen told the story of Steven White who developed the Bear Creek soup line. He sold it for several million and now is developing a new product, baby formula. He now has 39 employees and it’s growing. “That’s what we want to see, jobs for children and grandchildren. We all succeed when people are successful. There are 700 companies that belong to Utah’s Own.”
He told of Liz from Cache Valley who started selling jams at a farmers market. She now has her jam in more than 300 outlets throughout the Western United States. She sells sugar free jams that are fabulous and has creative packaging and fun names for the flavors of her jams.
Christensen said networking is important and just this week at a branding meeting he attended, Steve White met a man that wants to start selling meat pies into Canada and White knows a lot of distributors in Canada that can help him out, so they are working together to make this happen. Christensen said he doesn’t know everything, but he can connect you with the experts that can help you.
Christensen said how valuable shelf space is and name recognition, with the Utah’s Own sticker your product will receive more attention. The sticker helps you brand your product as local.
Kevin Jones from Snap Daddy BBQ sauce spoke next. He is a Utah success story. Jones said he is a red neck that just happens to make bbq sauce. He’s gone from making four 12-ounce bottles a day to making a 1,000 gallons a day if needed. The product is shipped to Los Angeles, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. Jones moved from Texas. In 2009 it was a brutal winter in Utah, there was six feet of snow and they weren’t used to snow. His daughter said, “Daddy, I am homesick for some good food.”
“So I cleaned off the grill and started cooking and made some bbq sauce to go along with it. My daughter told me she wanted me to write down the recipe. I use my hand for my measuring cup. So, this was kind of hard. My daughter said, Dad you’re getting kind of old and I want your grandkids to know what a good cook you are. At the time I was working for a mortgage company and I hated it. I took my lunch every day and my friends would always say what are you eating, that smells great. Pretty soon I was packing a lunch for them, too. They would tell me how great the bbq sauce was and ask if they could have the recipe. One guy said, no don’t give him the recipe. You can make money off this. I talked to my wife, and she thought I could make money too. I made him a bottle and gave it to him. Then he asked for another bottle. I am just like a drug dealer, the first hit’s free but then you’ll pay for it the rest of your life.
“It’s not a cake walk. You get out of it what you put in. Nicholas foods picked us up. We were at a food show and our booth was right next to Utah’s Own. I noticed Seth, the guy at the booth would go around and get samples and then put our bbq sauce on it. He asked me, what are you gonna do when this takes off? I told him we needed a kitchen. Seth said he had a place for us a 4,000 sq. foot kitchen. At the time we had $2,200 in orders and the kitchen was $2,000 a month lease. We joined forces with some other companies and shared the kitchen. Now we are in 4,000 stores,” said Jones.
Those he teamed up with each had a background that could add to the businesses and help them be successful. Jones said, Utah’s Own is like a library and each one of us is a book in that library.” Like Jed said, he doesn’t know much, but he surrounds himself with people who know. “He has the best people, listen to them. You get out what you put in,” said Jones. Currently Jones is working to get his sauce into Smiths. He uses all natural, clean and simple ingredients.
To join Utah’s Own doesn’t cost anything. You can register your business or product online. You can go to ag.utah.gov They are currently working on a new website. Your product is listed with a description and then the customer can go from there to your website to learn more about your product.
Adams told of an experience she recently had in Torrey. She stayed at a place which specializes in homemade breads and pies. They sell 17 dozen pies a day at Capitol Reef National Park.
The mission of Utah’s Own is to create a strong consumer culture that seeks and buys local agriculture and food products.
Utah’s Own encourages individuals to build relationships with those farmers and companies who grow or make their food. Utah offers a banquet of fresh food options via farms, urban gardens, community supported agriculture, roadside stands, farmers markets, grocery stores and restaurants. When a consumer purchases a Utah’s Own product, they can trust the brand to deliver a quality taste and flavor. In addition, Utah’s Own agricultural products, compost, seeds, and plants, or soaps, creams and lotions, offer a uniqueness and excellence that is rare among generic brands.
Utah’s Own supports and celebrates products offered from various companies. Our membership includes profitable farms and companies that have existed for more than 100 years, as well as some that started last season. Utah also supports more than 30 farmers markets, 300 grocery stores, 4,000 restaurants and several food service distribution companies, making the state an ideal location for agriculture and food entrepreneurship.
With more than 800,000 households in the state, Utah spends more than $6.3 billion on food each year, with each home dedicating 11.3 percent of their budget to this expense. If Utahns shifted one percent of their food dollars, by making an effort to seek out and buy Utah products, the collaborative effort would generate $63 million to our state’s economy. For most families, such a shift would only cost $72 annually, money they could easily spend at a farmers market, local retail store or restaurant. Consider what other economic impact could happen, if Utahns also made a conscious effort to source Utah products whenever available.
The Utah’s Own brand empowers consumers to identify quality agriculture and food products grown, processed or made locally.