Kitchen Licensing Workshop

At MOFGA’s Common Ground Educations Center, Unity, Maine.

Our Kitchen Licensing workshop is back – in person! This workshop is designed for farmers and aspiring small business operators interested in food processing for resale.

We will begin with presentations from Beth Calder of UMaine Cooperative Extension and Sierra Shaw, Quality Assurance Inspector with the State of Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Our presenters will cover licensing, food safety best practices, labelling & more. Sierra will lead a tour of MOFGA’s commercial kitchen, indicating what she would be looking for during an inspection.

Then we’ll take a lunch break and return for a panel of small business owners who have licensed kitchens (either licensed home kitchens or commercial kitchens).  They will discuss the growth of their businesses and any licenses they have had over the years, challenges they have faced, and lessons learned.  We’ll be joined by Jenn Legnini of Turtle Rock Farm (maker of jams, pickles and many other types of preserved fruits and vegetables), Derek DeGeer of Hootenanny Bread and Emily Springer of Meetinghouse Herb Farm.

There will be lots of opportunities to ask questions and connect with both experienced and aspiring food business owners. We’re excited to be back in person with this important opportunity for learning and networking! Hope to see you there!

We want to reduce the impact of this event in terms of greenhouse gas emissions from driving – if you can offer a ride to others attending, or would like to ride with somebody else, go here.

Questions? Please email [email protected]

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Registration is closed.

This event is priced on a sliding scale from $25-$75. Lunch is included. This sliding-scale fee structure is an effort to create more equitable access to our classes. We invite you to pay the amount that fits your budget.

Suggested general admission price: $60.

Suggested MOFGA member price: $45.

Participants in MOFGA’s Journeyperson or MFRP programs and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous or Person of Color): Free of charge.