If you’ve conducted workshops at your business, you might be frustrated by the difficulty of collecting data about how everything went. This guide provides thoughtful information on how to think about the data you want, how to organize it, and how to make lightweight in-person data collection work for you.

Useful for: Food business owners & farmers who do workshops and on-farm events and would like to do interactive, light-weight data collection to help with evaluating success, finding your audience, and improving your events.

Ease of use: Easy

Interactive: Provides printable worksheets and checklists, but is not editable.

Knowing your up-to-date ingredient prices and the cost of your products is essential to understand how to properly price your products and ultimately market and brand your business.

Useful for: New and growing business owners. Business owners that want an interactive and responsive way to price their recipes.

Ease of use: Moderate- requires general knowledge of excel and recipe information including ingredient quantities, ingredient cost, and batch yield.

Interactive: Yes. Instructions for using the guide are located on the title page of spreadsheet and can be edited to fit your business.

The Blowtorch Caravan is a unique dessert food truck that decrees “Creme Brûlée for all!” This concept will serve freshly torched creme brûlée, coffee, espresso, and other desserts for weddings, events, food truck round ups and anywhere else that needs a unique and delicious dessert.

Useful for: New and emerging business owners

Ease of use: Easy to moderate- requires general business knowledge to read and utilize. Finance section requires general financial knowledge and business information including estimated costs, financing needs, and breakeven point.

Interactive: No. Plan is uneditable but can be used as a template or example. Financial document templates can be downloaded at SCORE.org.

Starting a new food venture can be a daunting and intimidating task, especially when you begin working with your local Health Department. This guide helps to take some of worry away and explains the ways you will be working with your local health department to ensure food safety in your establishment.

Useful for: Anyone looking to start a relationship with their local health department when starting a food-based business.

Ease of use: Easy- Great for beginners or those looking for early-stage information.

Interactive: No. Guide is uneditable but links will be updated yearly.

Are you a Pittsburgh-based business owner that wants to incorporate more locally grown and made foods into your business? This list is the perfect starting point.

Useful for: Pittsburgh-based business owners looking to purchase from local suppliers.

Ease of use: Easy- Spreadsheet lists type of product and contact information for the farm or producer that sells it to wholesale clients. Simply find the product you need and contact the business!

Interactive: No. Spreadsheet is uneditable but will be updated yearly.

Do you want to make your food or beverage business more sustainable but you don’t know where to start? This Sustainability Toolkit is a great starting point to help you understand your options and start taking steps towards a more sustainable food business.

Useful for: Any small business owner that works with food that strives to be more sustainable.

Ease of use: Easy- The Toolkit will walk you through practical ways to make your business more sustainable.

Interactive: No. Toolkit is uneditable but a sustainability assessment is included that can help you determine your starting point and goals.

Now that you’ve read and worked through the Sustainability Toolkit (above), check out the Sustainability Resource Guide to start putting your plan into action.

Useful for: Any small food business owner looking to better understand composting, eco-friendly paper products, recycling, or local purchasing. Specifically useful for those in and around Allegheny County, PA due to local resources.

Ease of use: Easy- The Resource Guide will provide you with useful information and actionable resources.

Interactive: No. Resource Guide is uneditable but resources will be updated yearly.

Looking to fulfill your dream of starting a winery in the state of Pennsylvania? Start with this handy guide that breaks down the process step by step to make applying for this license a breeze.

Useful for: Any entrepreneur looking to start a small winery in the state of PA.

Ease of use: Easy- The Winery Guide will provide you with useful information and clickable links to make the application process as easy as possible.

Interactive: No. The Winery Guide is uneditable but resources will be updated yearly.

Value Added Product Labeling Guide: Ensuring your value added food product is properly labeled for retail sale can be stressful. It’s important to make sure your label has all of the required information before you begin selling. This labeling guide will provide you with the information to ensure you’re following the correct agency's guidelines, have all of the required language, and your promotional claims are in compliance.

Useful for: Any food business owner who is sells value added products and wants to make sure their labels are in compliance with federal and state regulations. 

Ease of use: Easy to moderate- cites Federal laws and regulations. 

Interactive: No