'Foodtrepreneur' Festival connects community, Artisans.

• Author: Christensen, Lisa
• Position: Around Utah

Salt Lake City -- While Utah is known for being the Beehive State, it doesn't always get the recognition it deserves for its honey.

Or its cookies. Or its salami, or vodka, or fruit preserves, or chocolate, or its alternative-protein cricket bars. In fact, many residents don't even know about them.

Enter the Food Entrepreneur--or "Foodtrepreneur"--Festival. Organizer Rachel Hofstetter says she herself was surprised at the wealth of gourmet food startups when she moved to Utah last year.

But when she and other organizers began kicking around the idea for a festival that featured local food-oriented businesses, they were unsure of how popular it would be. They were initially hoping for a turnout of 200, she says, then for an RSVP count of 450. But the night before the event, they had to cap RSVPs at 650 because of fire code restrictions. More than 450 had already come an hour into the inaugural festival.

Lines of people snaked through the room as attendees stopped at businesses from across the state to sample various fares. Because of generous grants and donations, Hofstetter says, the event was free to both attendees and vendors. More than 30 businesses, encompassing more than 50 entrepreneurs, set up shop in what Hofstetter says is planned to be an annual event.

In addition to the sample line, seven of the entrepreneurs took questions from Hofstetter about their experience starting from scratch and the lessons learned along the way.

Liz Butcher of BUTCHER'S BUNCHES, a Logan-based business that makes no-sugar-added fruit and vegetable preserves, says she felt success lay in letting the product do the talking. "We'd post pictures on Facebook of us picking the fruit, and then processing it in the kitchen. People could see the fruit, the actual fruit in the pans," she says. "People realized, 'They're using real fruit, not 70 pounds of sugar and three pounds of cherries'."

At the same time, she realized the product had to shine both inside and out. "The first thing people see is [the outside of] your product. They buy with their eyes," she says. "It has to stand out, and if it does, they're going to buy it and take it home and try it."

Packaging has also played a role in making it easier to help the customer find what they're looking for, says Christy Jensen of MAMACHARI KOMBUCHA. The flavors are color-coded, so when someone asks for "the yellow kind," she knows what to get them.

Her real marketing success, though, has come from her slogan and...