Boise Startup Week Launches Food Track
Idaho’s Food & Culinary Innovation Highlighted
In December of 2017, Vynyl Co-Founder and Boise Startup Week (BSW) Chair Nick Crabbs invited Indulge Boise Owner & Chief Indulge Officer Angela Taylor to Chair the Food Track during its launch at BSW 2018. Boise Startup Week’s Food Track would highlight the companies and the personalities that are leading food and culinary innovation in Idaho.
After several months of planning with an incredible committee comprised of community leaders Andrew Hanebutt (Marketing Director, Boise Fry Company), Tiam Rastegar (Trailhead), Matthew Wilkerson (Trailhead), Lauren Branch (Owner, Lauren Branch Photography), Jeff Benton (Boise State University), and Jenny Vu (Balsam Brands), the Food Track was launched on Wednesday, October 18th with a variety of panels, discussions, presentations, demonstrations, and its signature event – Trailmix.
Read our Day 1 Recap from Facebook
One of many highlights from Day 1 was the inaugural Trailmix Pitch Competition. After over 50 companies entered the competition, five finalists were selected. The five finalist all had very impressive food products to pitch (and very tasty products at that). In the end, impressive entrepreneur Joni Kindwall-Moore won the competition with her entry Snacktivist Foods. Snacktivist was awarded a $10,000 check from Albertsons and Trailhead and will have an opportunity to receive shelf space in approximately 80 Albertsons stores in the Pacific Northwest.
After a great day of discussions on Day 1, we followed that up with more insightful conversations and a cooking demonstration on Day 2.
Read our Facebook Recap of the Friday, October 19th Sessions
In addition to the programming, Indulge Boise presented the Boise Startup Week Foodie Experience as a way for attendees to enjoy the Downtown Boise restaurant scene during the event. Nine Boise restaurants partnered with us for this unique dining program that allowed attendees to use our Indulge Boise wooden tokens for lunch, dinner, and drinks. It was pretty cool. We can’t wait to expand the program in the future.
Overall, year 1 of the Food Track at Boise Startup Week was a huge success. We are grateful for the opportunity to be involved and look forward to next year’s event!
