'Incubators' helping develop new food items

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Goat chops, goat sausage and goat loins aren't appearing on most American menus today, but Jim Lechner is working to change that.

The New Jersey goat farmer knows there's a demand for his meats in the ethnic market, including Muslims seeking halal meat. He's hoping a food "incubator" at Rutgers University will help him sell his product to high-end restaurants and turn his goat meat into a gourmet product.

Since 2001, the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers has helped develop and refine ideas for new products grown and manufactured in New Jersey.

These incubators, so-named because they "hatch" ideas, exist across the country to help food producers keep up with a changing American diet and palate.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $10 million in grants, including $1 million to Rutgers, to provide technical and business development assistance to agricultural producers for new food ventures or to add value to existing ones.

Similar to incubators created for other sectors like technology, the centers offer sophisticated guidance — akin to research and development arms of large companies — to assist farmers and entrepreneurs with business development plans, market research and focus groups, and in some cases manufacturing.

"There's a tremendous thirst for new products in the marketplace, and the opportunities are ripe for new companies to be quick to market with products that meet the needs," said H. Louis Cooperhouse, director of the Rutgers center.

Many incubators are affiliated with universities — at Oregon State, the University of Idaho, Cornell University — and offer different menus of assistance. Other food venture centers and incubators, in Vermont and Indiana, are nonprofits.

They represent steps beyond the traditional alliance with universities, extension centers that historically assisted with pest management, agriculture genetics and crop rotation.

In New Jersey, where the food industry is estimated at more than $8.1 billion annually, Rutgers' Food Innovation Center helps small farmers and entrepreneurs develop new products such as organic gelato and fresh-cut asparagus in microwaveable pouches.

The center has operated as part of Rutgers for years and will get its first dedicated building in 2008. The $7.4 million, 23,000-square-foot building will offer food processing equipment, technical and business support services, office space and manufacturing and storage space.