QAI recently hosted Big Ideas & Brunch, a networking event for food entrepreneurs, at Greenbar Distillery in downtown Los Angeles. We had a great time connecting with amazing food and beverage entrepreneurs and learning their challenges in the ever-changing natural food industry. We had 30 attendees at this invite-only event and it was great to hear the discussion and insights they shared.

One of the common challenges faced by attendees was the difficulty of connecting with larger retail chains. One brand mentioned that the larger retailers wouldn’t even consider taking their products unless they went through a broker, while another had gotten products into the same retailer by themselves, but it took two years to do so! Many of them wanted to know what they could do to get picked up by larger retailers so their products could reach more people.

With label claims being preferred by retailers, QAI wanted to show how we could assist these brands in attaining their certification goals and our diverse team of technical experts were on hand to provide answers on a variety of issues.

We had a lot of fun connecting with these up-and-coming food companies and being a resource for them. If you would like to be notified of our next Big Ideas & Brunch event, please email us at qai@qai-inc.com.