Cornell Food Venture Center

We provide comprehensive assistance to new and established food entrepreneurs, promoting sustainable economic development.

The Cornell Food Venture Center (CFVC) helps food businesses large and small introduce new food products into the marketplace. We provide product safety evaluation, process development, and guidance in local, state and federal regulatory compliance. We also provide educational materials, workshops, training programs, and referrals for business assistance, local suppliers and service providers.

Located in Geneva, NY at the Cornell AgriTech campus, the CFVC is strategically located in close proximity to world-class food and agricultural science facilities and experts. Geneva is also home to the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park, an incubator space for small food and agricultural businesses, and the Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture connecting food entrepreneurs to all aspects of business development in NYS.

In recognition of the 75-year relationship between Seneca Foods and Cornell AgriTech, the Seneca Foods Foundation has announced a $10 million gift to the Cornell Food Venture Center (CFVC), the largest gift in Cornell AgriTech history. The gift will further support the CFVC's work to help food entrepreneurs and producers of all sizes bring their products to market and grow the food economy in New York state and beyond.

Half of the gift will endow the CFVC and its state-of-the-art pilot plant, now named the Seneca Foods Foundation Pilot Plant. The other half will endow the Seneca Foods Foundation Professor and Director of the Food Venture Center, a role currently held by Olga Padilla-Zakour.

Seneca Foods was founded by Arthur Wolcott '49 in Dundee, N.Y. months after graduating from Cornell. Now a $1.5 billion publicly traded company headquartered in Fairport, N.Y., Seneca Foods is a leading producer of packaged fruits and vegetables, sourcing produce from over 1,600 American farms.

NOTE: Cornell Food Venture Center will be closed for the holidays between December 24th, 2024 and January 2nd, 2025 for the University's Holiday Recess. The last day we will accept samples this year will be December 23rd.

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Training & News

Better Process Control School

Our next Virtual Better Process Control School for Acidified Foods is on January 13 - 14, 2025.

Classes fill up fast, sign up today!

Click Here to Register!

Food Product Development Certificate Program

NEW! Through e-Cornell, this certificate program guides food entrepreneurs through the iterative process of bringing a new food product or innovation to market.

Go to e-Cornell

New Course Available! Food Safety and FSMA Regulations for Small Food Processors

Are you in compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act?

Did you know you may be exempt from certain requirements as a small business?

Learn more through this self-directed online course!

Get other course updates from IFS@CU

40K+

commercial food products brought to market by the CFVC since 2000.

1.8K+

schedule processes for value-added food products approved in 2022

668+

Food businesses assisted by the CFVC in 2022

Collaborating Facilities

Through the center, entrepreneurs have access, for a fee, to additional established Cornell AgriTech facilities.

A man works at a large processing machine

High Pressure Processing (HPP)

High pressure processing (HPP) — also known as high hydrostatic pressure — is a non-thermal alternative to thermal pasteurization, which is gaining popularity as consumers continue to demand foods that maintain their freshness, offer a clean label, and deliver superior sensory and nutritional characteristics compared to heat-treated products.

Vinification & Brewing Laboratory

The Vinification and Brewing Laboratory offers analysis services for an array of craft beverage products including wine, cider, beer and distilled products. Additionally, the laboratory researches and troubleshoots craft beverages products in order to support the growth of the New York state craft beverage industry.

Seneca Foods Foundation Pilot Plant

The Seneca Foods Foundation Pilot Plant in Geneva, NY, is a unique processing facility designed for food businesses of all sizes to facilitate product development and scale up new or optimized food products. The Pilot Plant provides the facilities and experience our clients need to develop product formulations that scale, create robust production methods and ensure long-term food safety.

The Cornell Food Venture Center helps food entrepreneurs bring their products to market.

Our location

Cornell Food Venture Center at Cornell AgriTech
Food Research Lab, Room 158
665 W. North Street
Geneva, NY 14456
315-787-2273
CFVC [at] cornell.edu

Hours
Monday - Thursday: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.