Boulder market: Brand builder for upstarts.

• Author: Jackson, Margaret
• Position: Brief article

Since 1987, the Boulder County Farmers Market has served as an incubator for numerous small businesses that make food products.

Many of the companies that have established themselves on the shelves of retailers nationwide credit the market with giving them their start.

"It's been critical in shaping our line of cheeses throughout the years," says John Scaggs, director of sales and marketing for Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy. "We get feedback from customers at the market, and it helps us get some critical mass and create buzz."

When Stacey Marcellus and Ben Frohlichstein started Capello's, a manufacturer of gluten- and grain-free pastas, they wondered how they were going to get consumers to try their product and remember it.

"The farmers market was an excellent way to introduce our product to people early on," Marcellus says. "It was great to be part of the community and get some brand recognition right off the bat."

Today, Capello's is in about 500...