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All startup brands know how difficult it is for new product launches to make an impact, especially during the first year. In its annual New Product Pacesetter report, IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm, featured the top food and beverage launches of 2014 (based on year one dollar sales in measured channels) and examined what they did right.

Many entrepreneurs think that you only go to the Small Business Administration (SBA) when you want to get a loan. While the SBA is indeed a key resource for business loans — it assisted in the lending of almost $30 billion to small businesses in 2014 — the agency also works with entrepreneurs on launching and managing their companies.

Food and beverage entrepreneurs may need to be cautious when it comes to putting the word “healthy” on their labels, especially if they are working with high fat ingredients such as nuts.

You’ve made some headway with farmers’ markets in your area, where sales and feedback about your brand have been pretty good. So what’s next? How do you get your product into local retailers and, eventually, on the trucks of regional distributors?

Although it may seem like the gluten-free market is plateauing, new health studies by researchers in Europe and Australia just might have manufacturers expanding their offerings instead of contracting them.

It’s a staple of the past few years that anyone who has come up with a good idea – or thinks she has – has probably thought about putting it up on Kickstarter.

While snacks have long been defined by in-between meal consumption, consumers increasingly utilize the small food servings as meal replacements, and entrepreneurs would be wise to take advantage of this expanding market.

Nina Hooper is a Harvard astrophysics student by day and a “guilt-free,” vegan, chocolate lava cake baker by night – well, by early morning. At 6 a.m. several days of the week, Hooper gets up to bake cakes for her business, Holistic, which is now a project on Kickstarter.

Entrepreneurs who understand how a small-scale grocery service works will understand many of the demands and considerations bigger retailers will have when it comes to carrying their products — but they also have the benefit of understanding the way these new, web-based grocers function, as well.

While starting a local, grocery delivery service is not something we typically hear about from food and beverage entrepreneurs on the producing end, the process of forming the business and getting the necessary connections with suppliers and distributors is actually very similar.