PalateWorks.com helps small food companies plan new products

The recipe for "taste plus nutrition" that big food companies are suddenly cooking up in large batches has been developed mostly by small startups. From organic frozen dinners and homegrown BBQ sauces, to reduced fat sausages and whole grain crackers, entrepreneurs have been health segment innovators for years, and now are reaping the rewards in product sales and acquisitions by larger companies.

Helping them make these strides are food/nutrition consultants such as Palate Works, which recently unveiled an online startup/tune-up kit at www.palateworks.com. The kit contains essential links and tips for developing, launching and marketing food products, particularly healthier ones.

Turning a recipe into a product is the ultimate dream for many food lovers. Less enjoyable is all the leg (and keyboard) work required to bring a product to market.

The Palate Works kit compresses years of experience working with food companies and hundreds of hours of research and instantly connects users to commercial kitchens, business classes, brokers and nutrition testing services, as well as sources of funding, ingredients, packaging, etc.

Palate Works also hosts the Nutrition Bloopers column (a "how-not-to" of food labeling), and helps evaluate foods for www.winningfoods.com, a no-advertising listing of products selected for taste and nutrition.