Food Processing Operations
Food processing often emerges in our Food System Assessments and Feasibility Studies as a critical gap. Institutional buyers might have limited ability to wash and cut vegetables, so they need to purchase their goods cut and ready to cook. Local food is available and most cost effective during the few months of the year that schools – prime buyers of local produce – are out of session. There may be a strong interest among ranchers in expanding their production but lack of USDA slaughter and/or meat processing capabilities is holding them back.
In addition to helping better connect local food with local buyers, food processing can serve many other economic development related goals. These types of businesses can sometimes be located in abandoned facilities. They also often generate a myriad of jobs for the community. Depending on their scale, they can bring tax revenue to the region.
New Venture Advisors helps clients determine if food processing is needed within their local food landscape, and if so, what type of food processing should be offered. We then work with them to develop the right business model and scale of the enterprise. We have experience in fresh cut processing, IQF / frozen processing, grains processing, cheese manufacturing, and meat processing.
About Us
New Venture Advisors is a team of business consultants specializing in local food system planning and new enterprise development.
Food Processing Projects
Feasibility Study for Abattoir at Fauquier Livestock Exchange
Marshall, VA
Fauquier Livestock Exchange (FLX) is an auction house located in Fauquier County that facilitates the sale of livestock raised on farms throughout northern Virginia. With the support of Fauquier County, FLX is considering offering processing services to address needed services that currently require traveling more than two hours. New Venture Advisors is conducting a feasibility study to evaluate the market, operational and economic implications of locating an abattoir at the Fauquier Livestock Exchange. (2023)
Miko Meats Food Facility Feasibility and Design
Hilo, HI
Miko Meats is part of a multipartner collaboration to transform Hawai’i County’s agricultural value chain by enhancing its capacity to sustainably produce, aggregate, process, store, market and distribute local staple crops – while strengthening the social infrastructure that enables effective cooperation between farmers and with other value chain stakeholders. It owns a former meat processing facility that had been equipped for animal processing and cold storage – processing capacity that could be repurposed to resolve aggregation and processing bottlenecks and for agricultural business development. New Venture Advisors conducted a feasibility study to identify potential partnerships, operating models, technical viability and actionable pathways for revitalization of this vastly underutilized regional asset in catalyzing the Hawai’i island food system. (2022)
Oneida Nation Meat Processing Facility
Oneida, WI
The Oneida Nation of Wisconsin had worked for decades to build an interconnected food system founded on the principles of food sovereignty and food security. The pandemic shed a glaring light on how critical this effort continues to be for the Nation and its community, particularly how reliance on any external entities takes away its ability to feed its own people. Currently the Nation does not control the processing of animals on a large scale. This has brought forth a new initiative by the Nation to assess ways they can take back household and internal organizational processing of their protein sources. One of these opportunities is the possibility of a Nation owned and operated meat processing facility. New Venture Advisors conducted a feasibility study for building this facility that would allow Oneida Nation to close this gap in its food system. (2022)
Damian’s Craft Meats Feasibility Study
Ann Arbor, MI
For six years, Damian’s Craft Meats has been exploring the viability of developing a slaughterhouse and meat processing business that reflects the founders’ deep connection to and understanding of where good food comes from, and their respect for living animals. Moreover, and especially due to the disruption of the meat industry caused by the pandemic, they see an opportunity to reverse patterns of inequality, consolidation, and disinvestment in order to advance an equitable food system and expand the local meat value chain in southeast Michigan. NVA conducted a comprehensive feasibility study of the market, business model and facility plan and developed a business plan for their facility development project. The purpose of this project is to bolster the growth of the region’s meat sector through community collaboration and planning to better support the processing, aggregation, storage, and distribution of locally and regionally produced meat products. (2021)
The Good Food Collective Social Enterprise Launch
Durango, CO
Fruit for Good is a new social enterprise of The Good Food Collective. It dehydrates gleaned fruit from area farms, sells it to regional retail and wholesale customers, and donates it to food banks and pantries. New Venture Advisors coached the organization to conduct a market study to refine the value proposition for customers, put plans on paper that define the operating model and staffing plan, project the financial resources required, and build a roadmap with milestones through the pilot and full launch. (2021)
Detroit Eastern Market Corporation
Detroit, MI
Eastern Market Corporation is a nonprofit organization that manages Detroit’s historic Eastern Market and plays a critical role in fostering local food system development and healthy food access via a number of innovative initiatives. New Venture Advisors worked with EMC to develop a business plan for a local individually quick frozen (IQF) processing facility that would provide a new sales channel for regional growers, and increase access to local produce year-round for Detroit area institutions. (2016)
Headwater Food Hub
Ontario, NY
Headwater Foods, Inc. is a thriving food hub in upstate New York with a wholesale business line and a CSA service. New Venture Advisors worked with Headwater on a market assessment to quantify institutional demand for fresh cut produce, in support of the hub’s plans for a new processing business line. (2015)
Floyd Food Company
Floyd, VA
SustainFloyd is a nonprofit organization in rural Virginia that develops new ideas to support the next generation of Blue Ridge Plateau’s rural community while preserving its resources, traditions and heritage. New Venture Advisors worked with SustainFloyd to develop a business plan for a value-added agricultural center to process and market locally-produced fruits, vegetables and dairy products. The business launched in 2014 as the Floyd Food Company, beginning with a line of frozen soups. (2013)
