A new and innovative agency named The Startup Farm offers a full range of valuable resources under one roof. The Startup Farm is an idea-house, incubator and transformative consultancy providing to upstart consumer food and beverage companies services such as brand creation, package design, product formulation, manufacturing guidance, distribution consultancy, work space, operations consultancy and access to early-stage capital.

The Startup Farm will also offer naming, marketing strategy, social media services, photography and video. Furthermore, the agency provides export guidance for Canadian brands looking to penetrate the US market, as well for US companies looking to establish a beachhead in Canada.

The creation of The Startup Farm comes at a time of explosive growth in the local and natural food movement, during which distribution and technology advances allow ambitious startups to more easily access store shelves and consumers' homes. As experienced food and beverage entrepreneurs themselves, the firm's principals understand startups and their potential to disrupt entire industries.

The Startup Farm is the brainchild of natural food experts Ray Jolicoeur and Francois Bazinet. In 1999, Messrs. Bazinet and Jolicoeur co-founded, launched and turned GURU Organic Energy Drink into a North American multi-million dollar brand and one of the leading natural energy beverages in the natural and conventional grocery world. They recently sold their stake in GURU to refocus their efforts on their passion: creative and entrepreneurial ventures.

"Francois and I are excited to bring our years of creative, operational and technical experience to benefit entrepreneurs, help them bring their vision to life and scale their business," said Ray Jolicoeur, chief strategist at The Startup Farm. "We're passionate about leveraging our expertise to guide great new brands through the complex maze of bringing products into the hands of consumers."

Jolicoeur is an award-wining brand strategist, having worked on more than 30 premium brands at Pernod Ricard and Kraft Foods before launching GURU. Experienced in new product development, he has a proven track record of growing food and beverage brands with retail sales in excess of $350 million. Mr. Bazinet started his career in the international fashion industry working for clients such as Ralph Lauren, Armani, CK and Valentino. He later founded several large-scale electronic music venues that featured performances by world-renowned artists. With GURU, he developed deep relationships across the Natural food industry, while overseeing all aspects of its US business.

The Startup Farm is located in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, NY and also has a Montreal office.