How Taste of Appalachia Is Helping Local Food Businesses Grow with Terrell Ellis

Taste of Appalachia is entering its second year with a focus on helping small food producers across the region reach more customers while giving people a way to share West Virginia products during the holiday season. I spoke with Terrell Ellis of Advantage Valley about what the organization learned during the first year, how the program is growing, and the broader work being done to support entrepreneurs throughout the Charleston and Huntington region.

Taste of Appalachia began as an Advantage Valley initiative to promote small food producers from across the region. The program brings products from different vendors together into gift boxes that can be purchased by individuals or businesses. This year, 18 vendors are represented across six different boxes. The boxes are designed for holiday gift giving and provide a way for companies and families to send West Virginia products to customers, employees, friends, and relatives.

The first year provided several lessons, with many of them involving logistics. Advantage Valley is an economic development organization, so packing, shipping, and fulfillment were not part of its normal work. The team learned how much attention needs to go into the steps between selecting the products and getting a completed box into someone’s hands.

Some lessons involved small details that only became clear after the program launched. For example, a gift box needs something inside that identifies who sent it. Without a gift card or similar message, a recipient may receive a package without knowing where it came from. The products and vendor relationships were manageable. Shipping and fulfillment created more of the learning process.

That experience came with results that exceeded the original expectations. Advantage Valley initially believed selling 400 or 500 boxes would represent a successful first year. Instead, the program sold 1,145 boxes. Those sales represented about 8,200 individual units of product purchased from participating vendors.

The goal for the second year is to build on that foundation. Advantage Valley hopes to sell 1,500 boxes while expanding the number of participating vendors.

People will have an opportunity to experience the products in person on October 18 at Capitol Market. From 1 to 4 p.m., participating vendors will be available so visitors can sample products, see the different gift boxes, and learn more about the businesses involved. Customers will also be able to purchase or order boxes and get an early start on holiday shopping.

Taste of Appalachia also connects to a larger challenge facing small food producers. Many cottage food businesses can begin by producing items from home, but growth can become difficult when they want to sell online or move into larger retail markets. Reaching that level may require production in a certified commercial kitchen, and building such a facility can be beyond the financial reach of a small producer.

Advantage Valley is working on a possible solution by exploring the development of a certified commercial kitchen that producers could rent by the hour. The facility would allow entrepreneurs to make products in an approved space without having to invest in building their own kitchen. The project is still being designed and funded, but it reflects the type of infrastructure that can help small businesses move from local production toward larger markets.

This work is part of Advantage Valley’s broader mission. The organization represents nine counties across the Charleston and Huntington metropolitan areas and promotes them as one economic region. Its programs support entrepreneurs who are starting businesses, existing companies that want to expand, and efforts to attract new employers in areas such as manufacturing, information technology, and medical technology.

Programs such as Taste of Appalachia and Expanding Markets show how economic development can include more than recruiting companies into a region. It can also mean identifying barriers that existing businesses face and creating ways to help them grow.

Taste of Appalachia demonstrates that approach through a practical program that connects local producers with customers. After selling more than twice the number of boxes originally expected in its first year, the initiative is now focused on improving the process, increasing participation, and creating more opportunities for West Virginia food businesses. People can learn about the available boxes and order online through TasteofAppalachia.com beginning September 15.