Fancy Food Show Mentorship Scholarship

The Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI) Portland chapter is excited to support and mentor one woman-owned food/beverage business at the Fancy Food Show in New York City.  In partnership with the Food Innovation Center, Les Dames Portland will provide one culinary professional with a complimentary booth in the incubator village, as well as professional mentorship to help prepare for the trade show opportunity including packaging design, marketing/PR, sales sheet review, pitch coaching, etc.

Scholarship applicants must identify as a woman-owned business, have worked with or have a scheduled appointment with the OSU Food Innovation Center (we can assist with this once the application is submitted) and be ready for wholesale orders by the trade show date.

Application Deadline: Midnight March 31st, 2023

We believe that historical bad behavior in the food and wine industry disproportionally hurts the most marginalized people in society, including women of color, women from working class backgrounds, and LGBTQ people. We believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do to lift-up women in our food community.  Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of marginalized communities to apply. If you would like translation assistance for this application email sarahspicymarshall@gmail.com and we will connect you with a volunteer.

Help us find applicants! Below is a pdf that you can download, print and share.

Our 2023 Recipient

Lee Hedgmon of The Barreled Bee

The Barreled Bee pairs honey varietals with local distilleries used sprits barrels and ages them. The resulting honey is then packaging or incorporated into food and beverage products. The Barreled Bee offers classes on honey tasting and consulting with local breweries, distilleries, and wineries on using honey in products.

The Barreled Bee brings all the goodness of barrel-aging to honey and our honey products. Our goals are to support local economies by sourcing raw materials and through collaborations with small businesses and organizations that support women, people of color, LGBTIA people.

Our 2022 Recipient

Lisa Tran of Tan Tan

Tan Tan means New Beginnings in Vietnamese. Emerging from successful restaurants built by Vietnamese refugees, proud immigrants and fearless women, Tan Tan Foods is dedicated to introducing and inviting others on our flavor journey.

Tan Tan Foods is honored to introduce the very first Vegan-Certified and Gluten-Free authentic Vietnamese sauces to the market. Having had the opportunity to develop these flavors over more than two decades in the restaurants, Tan Tan Foods proudly presents the first Vietnamese Hoisin Sauce on the market as well as Vietnamese Peanut Sauce, Mom’s Hot Chili Sauce and a truly vegan “Fish” Sauce!

Just as food is an important way to learn about cultures, Tan Tan Foods has used the opportunity to share authentic Vietnamese flavors to the Portland and Metro areas in hopes of building stronger communities. We have worked with other small and local vendors to create demo events where we are able to showcase their products alongside our sauces as well as having the opportunity to mentor many emerging companies. Tan Tan Foods has also worked with organizations such as IRCO (Immigrant Refugee Community Organization), My People’s Market, Brian Grant Foundation, Built Oregon, APANO (Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon) and many others to support our belief that we really are stronger when we work together.