Navigating Festival Success for a new business: the ups and downs of our first two years.

As a new business, we have jumped into the exciting world of festivals, filled with energy, challenges, and vital lessons. Our goal? To promote our products and build connections with our customers. Some festivals have been incredible for our sales, while others have baffled us. These are some of our festival experiences, the lessons we’ve learned, and the joy we find in offering high-quality bacon.

The Festival Experience: A Double-Edged Sword

Participating in festivals is an experience like no other. The thrill of setting up our booth next to a slew of other like-minded vedors, showcasing our delicious bacon, and interacting with potential customers is exhilarating. However, we also face significant costs such as vendor fees, travel expenses, accommodation, and sometimes bringing staff. For instance, we spent $500 on vendor fees and an average of $100 on travel per event in our first year.

The financial side can be tricky. For example, our first festival brought in tons of sales, but after expenses, we barely broke even. However, at another event, we also attend festivals that are worth it. We normally have about one third of profits through these sales, with on third going to the festivals, and the last to making the bacon. We’ve learned to assess each event carefully, considering both the benefits and the costs.

Learning the Ropes: Which Festivals to Embrace

Through our journey, we’ve learned to identify which festivals are worth our investment. We discovered that events with a strong focus on vegan/vegetarian food and artisanal products yield the best returns. On average, these festivals bring in more customers interested in high-quality ingredients than more commercial events.

Conversely, larger festivals can sometimes dilute our brand message. While they attract large crowds, the competition is intense. For example, we participated in a massive festival that brought in over 20,000 attendees, but the festival placed another vegan bacon company two booths down from us ending with us splitting the bacon profits for the day.

The Joy of Connection: Meeting Our Customers

One of the most fulfilling aspects of vending at festivals is the chance to meet our customers face-to-face. Seeing their reactions when they try our bacon for the first time is priceless. The smiles, compliments, and genuine enthusiasm make all the hard work worth it.

We proactively showcase our new products and engage with customers to gather their feedback. This interaction allows us to build relationships and foster a community around our brand. For instance, we recently had a customer ask how many other events they could attend so they would be able to get the freshest bacon possible. These connections truly highlight our impact on people’s lives.

Changing Perspectives: One Meal at a Time

Every time we introduce a customer to high-quality bacon that transforms their meal, it feels like a victory. We are passionate about providing bacon that not only tastes amazing but also meets the demands of health-conscious and environmentally-conscious eaters.

Many customers have voiced their dissatisfaction with conventional vegan bacon until they discovered ours. For example, one customer expressed her joy in finding bacon that was crunchy and she didn't have to cook it to achieve that texture. Hearing stories like these reinforces our mission and motivates us to keep improving.

The Heartwarming Moments: Bringing Back Memories

We love when customers recommend their local coop we HAVE to get our products into. All in all it is worth it to us. Anytime we can help a meat eater to change even one bacon laden meal is fantastic. Any time we can bring a product to someone who was not satisfied with what was already in the market is so satisfying. Anytime we can bring smiles to folks who will have a good BLT for the first time in 20 years brings a smile to the face. For some, these moments evoke happy memories--and this was all because a 14 year-old was playing in the kitchen because his mom wouldn't let him have a BLT until he had decent bacon to try it with! Yup, there is our origin story.

Every smile, customer satisfaction, and shared story at our booth constantly reaffirms that our efforts are worthwhile.

Behind the scenes at CVille Fest before we opened.

The Adventure Ahead: Exciting Times Await

As we continue to explore the festival scene, we are hopeful about what lies ahead. Each event teaches us something new, and we are committed to improving our approach based on our experiences.

While we encounter ups and downs, the joy of connecting with customers and sharing our passion for quality bacon makes it all worthwhile. We are thankful for the opportunity to be part of these festivals and to bring happiness to bacon lovers everywhere.

So, here’s to more festivals, more connections, and, of course, more delicious bacon! If you catch us at an event, please stop by and say hello. We would love to share our story, and of course, let you try our products.

In the end, it’s not just about our bottom line; it’s about the impact we can make, one delicious meal at a time.