A Sweet Start Up with Sugar Bear Cville Replay Good Food Marketing with The Virginia Foodie

One of the scariest (or bravest) things a food brand could do is go straight from a recipe idea to the shelf. No market testing or selling in a specialty store. It’s every startup’s dream - or nightmare if done poorly!
Emily Harpster of SugarBear Cville has done just that, and her story is a great opportunity to learn about a startup retail brand in the very early stages of development. In this episode, we speak about some of the challenges most startup food brands face and why vision and determination play a huge role in achieving and sustaining success. 
SugarBear is off to a good start, thanks to some careful plans Emily put in place for her product development. And it’s paid off so far – her ice cream quickly caught the attention of ice cream aficionados like me and other local establishments who are committed to living the good food, good people, good brand life. 
Emily has graciously offered to keep us up to date with her progress as she tackles the challenge of building a strong regional brand. Listen to learn more about the behind-the-scenes and ups and downs of a locally sourced retail packaged food brand. It’s a rare opportunity to watch a new brand grow from its literal beginnings in retail, and you’ll get the inside scoop from a ringside seat.
Virginia Foodie Essentials:
Ice cream is a thing that really makes people happy. - Emily HarpsterIce cream is a little bit disarming and really charming. A lot of times, when I share with people that I do ice cream, they want to tell me about their favorite ice cream memories or a happy story or their favorite flavor. And it's a really wonderful moment to have. - Emily HarpsterWhen you're running a scoop shop, you're running a restaurant. It's a location, it's the interior design, it's the staffing,  and then you have to get the foot traffic. It's a whole different way to market your business. - Georgiana DearingKey Points From This Episode:
Charlottesville has a growing food scene that is beginning to rival nearby Richmond, Virginia.SugarBear is carried by a fan favorite over on vafoodie.com, Maribette Cafe and Petite Maribette.It’s essential to connect with like-minded brands to help establish your brand.Startups with an eye at grocery retail should consider SugarBear’s approach and go straight to packaged retail products bypassing farmer’s market and pop-up shops.Watching a new brand grow from its literal beginnings in retail is a chance to uncover answers to those burning questions: What makes a startup tick? What choices do startups face? What marketing challenges do they need to overcome during the first year as a startup food manufacturer?Having a clear vision and determination can shift a dream to a goal with an actionable business plan.More About the Guest:
Emily Harpster is the owner of SugarBear Cville, a very new, very fun and very local ice cream brand out of Charlottesville, Virginia. They make ice cream from scratch featuring central Virginia ingredients.

Connect with Emily Harpster/SugarBear
WebsiteInstagramLinkedInFollow The Virginia Foodie here:
VA Foodie websiteThe Virginia Foodie on InstagramVA Foodie InstagramVA Foodie on TwitterSupport the show