The Business of Food: Dreams

This opening session grounds participants in the realities of food entrepreneurship by exploring the entrepreneurial mindset, lifestyle considerations, and personal definitions of success. Participants assess their readiness for the demands of the food industry while clarifying their goals and motivations. Through practical, on-the-ground market research, they examine the problems they aim to solve, study competitors, and reflect on their own experiences as consumers. The session emphasizes testing the concept as much as the product—identifying target customers, refining mission and vision, and evaluating operational models such as home-based businesses, food trucks, shared kitchens, or brick-and-mortar spaces—laying a strong foundation before moving forward.