BevNET’s upcoming FBU Boston conference, which is a one-day business education and networking event, has added new speakers and features that are designed to put CPG entrepreneurs in position to find growth opportunities – and succeed when those opportunities arise.

FBU Boston will take place from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. on March 27 at the Artists for Humanity Epicenter in Boston. The initial schedule will be:

8 a.m.: Registration

8:30 – 10:00: Morning Session 1: Nuts and Bolts of Innovation and Design

10:00 – 10:30: Break – Coffee, Sampling Bar, Networking

10:30 – 12:00: Morning Session 2: Nuts and Bolts of Marketing, Sales, Route to Market

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

1:00 – 3:00: Afternoon Session 1: Company Structure: Hiring, Budgeting, Where the Money Goes

3:00 – 3:30: Break – Coffee, Sampling Bar, Networking

3:30 – 5:00: Afternoon Session 2: Fund-Raising, Boards, and the Role of the Founder

5:00 – 6:00: Cocktails, Networking

New Food & Beverage Experts Added to the Lineup

Joining the ranks of speakers will be triple-threat food/beverage/liquor startup expert Clayton Christopher, who has helped found or co-found food and beverage companies ranging from Sweet Leaf Tea and Deep Eddy Vodka to Rhythm Superfoods, has also become heavily involved in the growth of many more enterprises as a board member, investor, and mentor to companies through Austin’s Incubation Station, a consumer products accelerator that offers services and education designed to help other entrepreneurs.

Food Should Taste Good founder Pete Lescoe will speak at FBU Boston as well; Lescoe, who started the snack food brand in 2006, was able to take a company started in his kitchen and assemble a team that could build one of the fastest growing natural products companies in the industry before being acquired by General Mills in 2012.

In addition to their individual presentations, Lescoe and Christopher will join other entrepreneurs for a unique “Founders’ Panel” to answer questions about the changing role of the founder and CEO as companies grow.

Also on board for FBU Boston will be Kim Greenfeld, the founder of Campo Verde Solutions, a consulting firm to the organic and natural food industry with a primary focus on private label food programs. Greenfield, an expert in the product and supply chain development, is skilled in product sourcing, pricing negotiations, logistics, marketing, packaging and regulatory issues. She will be on hand to offer advice to food and beverage companies on ways to scale effectively from in-house or commercial kitchens to broader outsourced operations.

Christopher, Lescoe, and Greenfield join a previously announced lineup of entrepreneurs and experts who will guide FBU attendees through a morning session based around the key concepts of product development, routes to market, and sales and marketing techniques; the afternoon session will be devoted to company structure, financial sustainability, and access to various types of investment capital. Topic-specific talks with entrepreneurs who currently run or have started and sold food and beverage companies will be sprinkled throughout the day.

Sample Your Product to the Audience

All new product entrepreneurs attending FBU Boston will also have the opportunity to show and sample their products to investors, retailers, distributors and the rest of their fellow attendees through a sampling station set up by the BevNET team.

Attendees, speakers, and the BevNET staff will enjoy repeated opportunities to interact and network during several breaks, lunch, and cocktails that will immediately follow the close of the event.

To place products with the sampling station, view our signup form >>

Registration Information

Early registration for FBU Boston is now open through February 23, at which point the cost to attend increases by $50/person. Pricing is as follows:

• Food or beverage companies less than 2 years old: $249/person

• Food or beverage companies greater than 2 years old: $299/person

• All other business types, including service & supplier companies: $499/person

Register for FBU Boston 2014 >>

To learn more about this opportunity, please contact Jon Landis at (617) 231-8834 or jlandis@bevnet.com

Sponsorship Information

Interested parties should contact John McKenna at (617) 231-8825 or jmckenna@bevnet.com