This month we had another successful Long Island Food Council meeting! Special thanks to Davi Tserpelis of Astoria Bank for hosting 30 of our members. Davi gave us an overview of fraud and how it can affect businesses large and small. Davi’s presentation was a reminder we always have to protect ourselves and our businesses for the dreaded worst case scenario.
Once our host speaker is done presenting, it is time to showcase Food and Beverage startups on Long Island. First up was Rick Mignella, General Manager of VeeTee, a Microwaveable Rice, with a US office in Islandia. Rick let us in on some of the unique marketing techniques VeeTee uses to get their products in front of their desired customer. Without going into detail, VeeTee is using cutting edge digital plans which include both content marketing and the ever-growing influencer marketing.
We then heard the story of brand new entrepreneur, Michael Farca, who has brought to market an age old recipe: Devil’s Envy. A home-made Mexican spice that packs a powerful punch of both heat and flavor. Devil’s Envy recently made their tasting debut by partnering with Zorn’s of Bethpage, another Food Council member.
Lastly we were treated to meeting Tazzetto, an Italian speciality coffee shop that serves a large variety of products including espresso, snacks, and their unique edible biscotti cup, BELDOLCE. Beldolce is perfect for filling with desserts or espresso. Look for Italian restaurants across Long Island to add this to their dessert menu! Tazzetto is looking to expand into another location, and carry more specialized local products to sell their guests.
As always the conversations continued way over the normal meeting time. Members made introductions and new faces were greeted as family.
If you would like to join one of our meetings, or feature your food/beverage product, please email Info@LongIslandFoodCouncil.com. See you next month!
