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Feed Your Start-Up: Food Business Essentials Symposium

Jan 17, 2026

This event has ended. Please see our upcoming events page for more events.

Registration Closed
FEED YOUR START UP (750 X 500 Px)

Ready to turn your food idea into a real business? Feed Your Start-Up is a dynamic, hands-on event designed for aspiring student food entrepreneurs who want to understand what it really takes to launch and scale a food product or business.

This fast-paced event brings together industry experts to walk you through the essentials—from starting a food business legally and choosing where to produce, to food science, scaling up, packaging, food safety, and regulatory requirements. You’ll gain practical insights, ask real questions, and leave with a clearer roadmap for moving your food idea forward.

Whether you’re just getting started or refining an existing concept, Feed Your Start-Up will help you build with confidence and clarity in the food industry.

 

Agenda Highlights

  • Starting a Food Product Business: Legal considerations & production options
  • Food Science & Scaling Up
  • Packaging & Food Safety
  • Regulatory Requirements
  • Expert Q&A and Wrap-Up

Perfect for students curious about CPG, food innovation, and turning passion into a viable food venture.

 

Speaker List

  • Colleen Sharen - Associate Professor, Leadership and Marketing at Western University. Dr. Sharen has 13 years of brand marketing experience in the food industry.

  • Karen Cardona - CEO, True Leaves Consulting. Cardona is a leading voice in Canadian food innovation, with extensive experience launching successful CPG products. As founder of True Leaves Consulting, she helps brands bring bold ideas to market. Her expertise spans product development, regulatory, food safety, and operations, making her a trusted advisor to startups and established companies shaping the future of food in Canada.

  • Lisa Cove - Founder, Shelf Ready Inc. | Food Safety Consultant. Cove helps food founders stop stressing about food safety. With over 15 years of hands-on experience, she creates simple, audit-ready programs that help brands grow and pass audits. Cove has taught food safety for a decade and loves mentoring founders as they navigate their next stage.

  • Domenique Mastronardi - President, Beck’s Broth | Founder, Happy Era. Mastronardi is the President of Beck’s Broth, a million-dollar company making bone-broth-based beverages including hot chocolate and coffee. She is blending her expertise in engineering with a passion for wellness. Mastronardi's specialty is building profitable brands and helping others find that sweet spot where wellness meets growth. Prior to this, Mastronardi founded Happy Era, a protein waffle company that she launched and scaled nationally while studying engineering.

 

REGISTRATION CLOSED