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For socially conscious entrepreneurs in the food and beverage business, Whole Foods is the Holy Grail when it comes to getting your brand in front of interested consumers. But getting in is hard.

It used to be that you’d buy pantry items from the grocery store, medication and beauty products from the drugstore, huge packages of toilet paper at the club store, and lower-priced knick-knacks at the dollar store. But that was the past.

It looks like the time for introductions is needed. My name is Christina Ng (pronounced “-ing” in case you’re interested), and I am so excited to join BevNET as the new Editor for BevNET Food and Beverage University (FBU).

In each encounter with a new entrepreneur, Bob Burke, the founder of Natural Products Consulting, says that he asks a few simple questions to gauge whether or not a brand will have a chance in the marketplace.

The Chobani Food Incubator is a new program that will “invest in, support, and scale young and growing companies” that focus on creating healthy and natural products, according to the company.

Whether it be for health, cost, convenience, environmental considerations, dietary restrictions, or just plain vanity, consumer demand for meat-alternative sources of protein has risen dramatically in recent years.

Tyler Merrick, founder of Project 7, recently sat down with FBU to discuss what’s he’s learned from using cause marketing as a major platform for his brand.

Mamma Chia founder Janie Hoffman discusses the process by which she was able to identify and partner with co-packers that could mass produce a beverage that incorporated an often challenging ingredient, which in her case, is the chia seed.

To meet bottling regulations, much ready-to-drink tea is acidified and sweetened. Yet health-conscious shoppers want premium teas with less sugar.

Commonly referred to as a one-stop shop, broadline distribution is often utilized by retailers and restaurants that need to purchase a variety of items but wish to do so from a single distributor.