Over the past 15 years, Latinos have created companies faster than any other demographic in the US. However, Latino business owners still face several challenges that make it difficult to find success at the most critical time of their journey, including lack of access to capital, and struggles with securing corporate and government contracts.

The five brands encompass a wide range of food and beverage brands, from English muffins on a mission to make a social impact, functional iced teas to low FODMAP broths and seasonings. 

The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) in partnership with innovation advisory VentureFuel, announced the eight finalists selected to participate in the 5th Real California Milk Excelerator competition – the search to identify, curate, and accelerate the very best dairy-based products that introduce novel benefits and drive use of California milk and dairy in formulations.

Ready to start making your new product? If you’ve passed your initial formulation hurdles, you’re ready to think about where to sell the item, an initial volume and how the food will be safely processed and packaged. Possibilities include a home kitchen, a commercial kitchen or co-manufacturing plant, just to name a few.

This year marks the eighth year of the Greenhouse Accelerator program, and the first-ever Hispanic edition, which focuses on driving growth of emerging Hispanic-owned food and beverage businesses through collaboration and innovation.

You might be starting from scratch in a kitchen, or perhaps you already have a recipe you like. Either way, now is the time to think forward. You’re going to be choosing the ingredients and packaging you need to meet consumer expectations, support the statements and claims you want to make, and match way you expect to manufacture it.    

SKU’s mentors are what truly sets the accelerator apart. Brands are surrounded by a customized mentor team hand-picked to meet their needs. 

While the plant-based category continues to gain momentum, alt-protein food formulators still struggle to improve the labels and mouthfeel of their products to match traditional, animal-based counterparts. 

Born out of a family recipe with Argentinian roots, La Porteña is a Portland-based, Latino-owned business that crafts locally sourced, high-quality, small-batch chimichurri. 

During the 12-week program, founders participate in classes presented by some of the industry’s top experts invaluable to CPG entrepreneurs, including channel strategy, positioning and branding, packaging, labeling and safety, operations and fundraising.