“Don’t let yourself be boxed in,” Brooke White of Don’s Dairy Supply closed her session at the 2025 Ag Solutions and Networking Expo at SUNY Cobleskill. The expo, hosted by the college, CCE Schoharie & Otsego, New York Farm Bureau and others, was focused on local and regional agricultural interests.
White was helming a session on value-added production with Mary Cool, food science program coordinator for SUNY Cobleskill’s Institute for Rural Vitality (IRV). Cool’s team consults with small-scale, licensed producers, leveraging the IRV’s facilities and services to help bring their products to market.
“A value-added product is one that has had a change in its original physical state or form – such as milling wheat into flour and making fruit into jam. The method of production (organic, for example) and the way it is marketed can also enhance value,” Cool said. “According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, 33,523 farms produced value-added products in 2017, totaling $4.04 billion in sales.”
Why offer value-added products? It’s a great way to utilize sub-prime product (visual blemishes, “too ripe for market,” etc.). Maybe the farmer enjoys cooking and being creative.
The financial aspects can’t be ignored, however; value-added production creates a longer window of cash flow, allowing producers to retain more revenue and the opportunity to make a larger price margin of return on their crops.
Much of Cool’s portion of the presentation was focused on the production process for properly licensed producers. She also touched briefly on the home processor license (which “allows you to prepare food in your home kitchen for wholesale or retail sale at agricultural farm venues” and is exempt from Article 20-C licensing) and the Article 20-C food processor license.
(Article 20-C is a New York-specific statute; other states will have something similar. Check with your state Department of Agriculture to find the one more relevant to your operation.)
“Article 20-C Food Processing Establishment licenses apply to food manufactures, processing plants, wholesale bakeries and retail food establishments (i.e., grocery stores) that conduct any type of food preparation including but not limited to meat and cheese slicing, heating foods, sandwich making, operating beverage dispensing machines and preparing sushi, salad bars or other ready-to-eat exposed food packaging activity,” according to the New York State Department of Ag & Markets.
Her presentation covered all aspects of the production process, beginning with topics like concept evaluation, financial and resource impact assessment and customer identification. She also looked at recipe development, ingredient testing, manufacturing, product testing and eventually marketing and scaling up.
She stressed the need for documentation throughout the production process. A project plan is necessary – “a document that guides the execution of and controls the product development process.” She recommended a selection of planning templates that the IRV makes available to producers, which can streamline some of the stages of production.
Mary Cool with the Institute of Rural Vitality presents a session at the 2025 Ag & Networking Expo at SUNY Cobleskill. Photo by Andy Haman
It’s important to have a three-dimensional actualization of the concept and identify the ideal customer before jumping into the production process. Does the producer have the necessary skills to manufacture this product? Will labor need to be outsourced? What could the production process look like? What is the target market and ideal customer? What does that customer’s purchasing behaviors look like? What is their point of purchase preference?
Cool suggested evaluating these points with the 5 Ws – “Who, what, where, when, why?”
Rigorous testing – of ingredients, recipes and final products – should be prioritized. Recipe development should be well documented. Recipes should be tracked. Only one change should be made at a time – and noted. The initial concept should be referred to throughout the process – are revisions needed at any stage?
Clear recordkeeping is important during the manufacturing process. The creator should be able to duplicate the process precisely and without variation.
Cool also recommended having standard operating procedures (SOPs) drawn up for the business. It’s helpful to have everyone on the same page and it creates a standard to hold employee output and product quality to.
Marketing efforts should be intentional. Packaging should be clear and unmistakable, articulating your distinct brand voice and your product differentiations, be it your logo or other branding.
Brooke White helmed the second half of the seminar, approaching the topic from a more dairy-centric point of view. An account manager with Don’s Dairy Supply, she began by discussing the company’s shipping container creamery plants and goat milking parlors. The unique processing plants have filled a niche in the market and allow greater flexibility for small-scale producers that might not have need of larger facilities (or who may not have the space to build larger scale facilities).
She noted a few success stories that she’s worked with: Burley Berries & Blooms, a Warsaw, NY-based fruit and flower CSA who opened a micro-creamery in 2023; Miller Farms; and Perrystead Dairy, located outside of Philadelphia, PA – a cheese manufacturer.
White left attendees with some advice as they start value-added production. It’s important not to overwhelm yourselves or your operation. Choose one or two products to start with. Become an expert in all facets of your product, your manufacturing process and food safety regulation. Know the pasteurized milk ordinance (PMO), accessible through FDA.gov, and take the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act course – study food safety religiously.
“Becoming an expert in your product is important. Know everything you can about your process. You can’t over-prepare,” she said.
Carefully consider both your starting capacity (labor, etc.) and scale, if growth is your goal. White gave the example of planning for adding additional pasteurizer units or other processing equipment to your creamery in the future.
She also urged producers not to overlook the helping hand that is local grant money and other resources.
“Innovation starts with being told ‘no,’” she said. Whether making jams, salsas or artisan cheeses, there’s a niche for every producer out there. “It’s important not to let yourself be boxed in.”
by Andy Haman
