Wanted: food products

4/12/2011

Are your Christmas cookies the talk of the town? Is your tomato sauce so good you could make it a business?

The Center for Innovative Food Technology is looking to help you with its fourth annual Food Product Development Contest.

The idea is simple. The center has the facilities and the expertise to help turn a homemade food item into a commercial product, packaged and ready to sell. To find some of the best potential food products in the area, it holds a contest. The winner will receive technical and business development assistance, access to a commercially licensed kitchen, and more.

Restaurants and other businesses also may apply.

Previous winners have made barbecue sauce, cookies, pepper jelly, and more. Many of the winning products are currently in stores.

Entries will be judged on their viability, potential for success, soundness of their commercial vision, and commitment of the submitter.

The submitter must be from northwest Ohio, and the product must be the applicant's first commercial product for market. All ingredients must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration and can contain no alcohol.

The deadline for applications is June 1. Applications are available online at ciftinnovation.org. For more information, call 419-823-3099.

Daniel Neman