BALLSTON SPA — Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County will be hosting a workshop on April 11 for anyone who’s ever considered making and selling food or their favorite recipes. The workshop will include speakers from Cornell University Food Venture Center, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, NY Kitchen Company Food Consultant, SCORE Business Marketing and Counseling, Healthy Living Market, and more.

The workshop is a day-long crash course beginning at 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Topics covered include getting permission and licensing to sell your food product at retail locations, making sure your food product is safe, becoming a small-scale food processor, the value of a good business plan, marketing, insurance requirements and getting your food on the shelf. 

“I was getting quite a few calls every year about people who wanted to start a small food business selling their own you know, salad dressings or baked goods and they wanted to know how to go about it so I decided to put together a workshop,” Diane Whitten, Food and Nutrition Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County and organizer of the workshop. 

“It could include anyone who wants to sell jam from their farm stand or somebody who wants to sell frozen food through Price Chopper,” Whitten added. 

This is the third time the workshop has taken place, and roughly 50 to 60 have been in attendance each year according to Whitten. 

According to Whitten most foods, aside from baked goods and jellies in jams, have the potential to be hazardous. 

“Like if you want to sell your own Kimchi, those are foods that have to be properly prepared so that it can be safe, to try and make a shelf-stable product,” Whitman said. 

The workshop will take place at 50 West High Street in Ballston Spa. Attendance will cost $60, which includes lunch. To purchase tickets, visit ccesaratoga.org.