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C’Mon Betty Circular Economy Cannery

Turn ‘ugly’ or surplus produce into tasty, shelf-stable condiments to reduce waste and keep food within the community.
www.cmonbetty.com
January 5×5 Night at Start Garden
Voting Closes:

January 20, 2025 11:59 pm

About this idea
C’Mon Betty is an artisanal canning company creating small-batch, handmade, delicious and unique shelf-stable condiments upcycling locally sourced ingredients by providing an avenue for farmers and grocers to sell crops that would have otherwise gone uneaten, unsold or unharvested due to blemishes, overstock, or bumper crop to keep produce in the community and divert food from the landfill. I am working with the Michigan State University Food Processing Innovation Center to get my shelf-stable condiment recipes, starting with a zucchini relish and watermelon rind relish approved for wholesale at farmers markets, grocery stores and online retail. The approval process called the Process Authority Test is conducted to ensure that the recipe is shelf-stable and to establish a regulated process for the Michigan Health Department to verify. Once the state Processing Authority has approved these recipes I will be working with Growing Hope Incubator Kitchen to produce the relishes at a larger scale than a home kitchen can allow. This is also a wonderful network tapped into local farmers and producers whom I can provide a food recovery option to and who can recommend what other vegetables and fruits are the most overproduced. This will allow me to prioritize other shelf-stable condiment recipes starting with a sundried tomato relish as a pain point for farmers dealing with a bumper crop of tomatoes and a pumpkin ketchup as we are now in pumpkin season. Once my initial recipes have been approved by the state a local health inspector will be present for the canning of a batch of relish to observe that I am producing my food according to all health regulations and standards. Their final approval will allow me to apply for two final needed licenses to operate as a canning and preserving business as well as selling the products that I produce. My condiments will ultimately be sold at grocery retailers, online and at fairs and farmers markets.
Impact
Initially C’Mon Betty with just one Zucchini Relish recipe will offset 252 pounds per month at minimum. Larger zucchinis often remain in the field of smaller farmers as they don’t sell as readily at market, though perfectly edible this bumper crop often rots on the ground if it isn’t picked early. C’Mon Betty was founded as a food recovery solution for farmers, growers and grocers. To increase the profitability of their yield without increasing production and offering a solution that allows the locally grown food to stay in the community in a shelf-stable way where it is viable for over a year. According to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy “it is estimated that ⅓ of all of the food produced in the world goes to waste. This equals 103 million tons (81.4 billion pounds) of food waste generated in America in 2017, or between 30-40% of the food supply according to the United States Department of Agriculture. This means that either these products never leave the farm, get lost or spoiled during distribution, or are thrown away once purchased. This amount that goes to waste could not only feed the entire planet, but is also negatively contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, and is wasting billions of dollars in costs to farmers and families.
What I'll do with $5,000
$625 Process Authority Review (PAR) Test $125 each - FDA requirement for each recipe $125 pH test (5 recipes) $25 each - FDA requirement for each recipe $700 Nutrition testing $140 each - FDA requirement for each recipe $300 UPC codes - requirement to sell in grocery retailers $1800 per month kitchen rental (3 months rental) $345 Food Photography $186 Wholesale Food Processor License - FDA requirement to sell to grocery retailers $900 Produce, Spices and Vinegar
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