Hi there,
A couple months ago, as I was gearing up for CookieCon,
I sent out a newsletter in which I said that a national cottage food conference is "unlikely to happen in the near future".
So imagine my surprise when, only one week later, I was at CookieCon talking to
Matt Rosen, and he said, "I thinking of hosting a cottage food conference. Actually I'm not just thinking about it -- I'm going to do it!"
And he certainly is! He's joining forces with the team at My Custom Bakes to put on
CottageFoodieCon -- the first-ever, in-person national cottage food conference!I have been wanting to see an in-person conference for our industry for a long time, and
I'm so excited it's finally happening! There's nothing that can quite replace the value of meeting together in-person, and I suspect that this conference will help our industry, and our movement, grow well into the future.
I recently spoke with Matt about some of the plans for this conference, and while there's still a lot to do, they already have the venue booked, the dates set, and the general plan formulated.
The conference
will be happening in the spring of 2026 near Minneapolis, and I'm really glad it will be located in Minnesota, which has proven itself to be one of the most active cottage food hubs in the country.
I will be speaking at the conference, along with other industry leaders and experts, and it will have everything you'd want:
keynotes, classes, vendors, panels, food, and of course, the opportunity to interact with other cottage food entrepreneurs!More details will be coming in the months ahead. You can
go to cottagefoodiecon.com to sign up for email updates about registration and other announcements.
I'm definitely very excited about this, and I hope you are too!
Forraging ahead,
David