The fifth cohort of Dairy Runway, an entrepreneurship program supporting early-stage food innovators developing value-added dairy products, participated in a virtual pitch session on Wednesday, May 27, marking the culmination of the cohort’s two-phased experience. Funded by the USDA’s Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC) and administered by Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA), this cohort drew food entrepreneurs from across the region, working with a range of dairy sources from cow, goat and sheep milk.
The six participating teams, selected this past fall, completed an online, synchronous entrepreneurship course covering customer discovery and business model canvas development, equipping participants with the tools to test assumptions and sharpen their value propositions. Building on the foundation of the seven-week virtual course, each team then worked toward an initial product prototype with in-person support from Cornell’s dairy specialists and food technicians within the university’s food product development facilities. Throughout this second phase, teams also received one-on-one business coaching from experienced entrepreneurs, who guided them in refining preliminary business models and preparing pitch decks for the final session.
The range of products developed by this cohort, from flavored butter to high-performance A2 dairy beverages, reflect the diversity of the Northeast’s consumer and the region’s dairy ecosystem. Following the virtual pitch session, the teams will continue refining their business models and prototypes with the goal of securing additional resources to further advance their products.
“Farmers are the backbone of this nation, and dairy farmers in particular hold a special place in that story. Being part of Cornell’s Dairy Runway program deepened my commitment to that truth and gave Butterella its purpose: championing Northeast dairy while building something genuinely worth sharing,” said Delia Fernandez, a recent graduate of the program. “I gained a real foundation for what it means to build a dairy brand, from sourcing the right packaging and negotiating supplier rates to understanding how to price across channels and knowing where to find funding to grow. The mentors and coaches who poured into this process made what felt like an enormous dream feel within reach. I am eager to launch and expand my customer discovery at farmers markets this summer, and I cannot wait to take Butterella further.”
Since its launch in 2023, over 100 food innovators have applied to the program, which has supported two cohorts per year, each comprising six to ten teams. With the fifth cohort’s completion, 30 teams have now successfully completed the entrepreneurship course, prototyping training and virtual pitch session.
Benita Kasbo, founder of Kasbo’s Market and a Dairy Runway graduate, has scaled production of her Syrian cheese or Jibneh through a combination of grant funding, including grants from the Women’s Net and the NE-DBIC, and a creative collaboration with the Chobani Café in SoHo, New York. In 2025, Dairy Runway graduates Adrienne Bitar and Jenny Han, founders of Seen Nutrition, a women’s bone-health startup that produces a calcium supplement, were selected Grow-NY competition winners at the $500,000 level, a recognition that underscores the program’s goal of preparing participants to take their product to the next level.