Foodies Rule the Fort! Panel Discussion on Bringing Food to Market
Do you have an idea for a restaurant? Do you want to start a farm? Do you have a great food product that you want to see on the shelves of grocery stores? This is your opportunity to learn from those who have gone before you in the food venture. Hear their stories and ask your questions of these successful foodies. Panelists include: Henry Mouton - Former owner of the Rio Grande Restaurant Henry Mouton is a business management and operations executive with over 26 years of experience in the restaurant industry as COO/Sustainability Director for The Rio Grande Mexican Restaurants. After helping build the company to 7 locations, Henry left the company in late 2012 to pursue the study of sustainability through Cleantech Fellows Institute, and to provide startups with advisory and mentoring assistance through the SAGE program at Rocky Mountain Innoshere. His areas of focus are operations and management, organizational development, and strategic planning. Henry enjoys the outdoors through hiking, cycling, and snowboarding. Michael & Meghan Baute - Spring Kite Farm Together, Meghan and Michael have over 8 years of experience growing organic and biodynamic vegetables on the Front Range. In early 2012, after months of seeking the perfect land, they connected with the Mead family to lease their family farm on South Taft Hill Road. So began Spring Kite Farm. With formal education in both Soil Science and Zoology, they manage the farm and the land in a way that builds resilience and increases fertility. They can be found at the Larimer County Farmers Market, at restaurants in Fort Collins (including Café Vino, Wild Boar, Jax Fish House, Restaurant 415, Spoons, and others), and also offer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares. Chris and Anna Feuille - White Buffalo Kitchen Chris started WB Kitchen in 2012 with his wife Anna. Creating is what Chris enjoys best. Whether it be new recipes in the kitchen, making spreadsheets, or fumbling through the finances Chris always enjoys a new challenge to navigate. WB Kitchen is constantly evolving and Chris believes making decisions based upon facts, reasoning, and intuition is the best way to run his business. One of Chris’s goals for WB Kitchen is to impact foodies and entrepreneurs all over. Chris wants to show that businesses can succeed and be profitable while utilizing unconventional methods of operation. Really being clear about what you are doing is a constant idea that Chris is constantly returning to. Always remember why it is you set out upon this particular path and what it is you wish to accomplish. In his limited spare time Chris enjoys playing the violin and spending time out in the woods with his family Scott Hapner – Chef Happy’s Gourmet Involved in the local food community in northern Colorado for over 14 years, most notably the last 6 years as an associate with the Northern Colorado Food Incubator (NCFI) and BeLocal. Through the NCFI, Scott has been involved with food business incubation and support for farms, restaurants, catering companies, and value-added food businesses, where they successfully created many food business development programs, seminars, events, and winter farmers markets that provide food business start-ups and existing local food businesses an environment to grow, network, and expand their market. As a chef by trade, he has spent over 17 years in the food and beverage industry working his way from the dish tank to a fine-dining chef. He has worked in casual and fine-dining restaurants in Charleston, SC and Fort Collins, CO; from steak houses and Italian restaurants to chalk-board menu cafes and upstairs to fine dining restaurants.
Speaker(s): Facilitated panel discussion with Henry Mouton, Michael Baute, Chris Feuille and Scott Hapner
Light snacks & refreshments will be provided. You are welcome to bring a lunch. If you are unable to attend, please call us at 970-498-9295 to give your spot to another attendee. Overflow parking is located behind the wooden fence to the east of the main parking lot.
Fee: No Cost