Students unveil new products for sale

Nelson Farms Country Store’s newest offerings include hemp granola and ‘On the Go’ energy bites.

MORRISVILLE, N.Y. » Two new products produced by Morrisville students are on the market.

Hemp granola and “On the Go” energy bites hit the shelves of Nelson Farms Country Store this week. The products made their debut during a holiday open house and sampling on Friday and Saturday at Nelson Farms on Route 20 in Cazenovia.

Other tasty weekend offerings included a student-made pineapple salsa with shrimp, and a cider with a mulling spice.

Joining the two new products are dog treats. Product concepts were cooked up by students in associate professor Sheila Marshman’s Distribution and Marketing of Agricultural Products class, which has been developing them all semester.

This week they created and bottled their recipes in the Nelson Farms kitchen with assistance from Amanda Hewitt, product development manager and 1988 graduate of Morrisville’s dietetic technician program.

Marketed as a healthy snack, banana coconut chip “On the Go” energy bites “will keep you going during your busy day,” according to the label, which students produced in addition to devising the product, name, logo and packaging.

Hemp granola is also a healthy alternative snack made with ingredients grown in New York State. Table Scraps Fall Feast dog treats, which are being produced next week, are one of the first products for pets.

Marshman’s students are behind 20 different tasty treats at the Country Store, which complement hundreds of other delectable goods produced by local entrepreneurs.

Choices include a lineup of student-produced products like Slather Sauce, Maple Madness Syrup, Pineapple Salsa, Sweet-n-Spicy Apple Mustard and Apple-n-Spice All-Purpose Seasoning and Rub.

In addition to the Country Store, Morrisville’s products are sold at the Regional Market in Syracuse. Popular student-made products Slather Sauce, Kraken Lemon Pep- per Marinade, Sweet and Spicy Apple Mustard are also sold at various New York State Thruway travel plazas and service stops including Chittenango, Clifton Springs, Oneida Castle, Iroquois, Junius Pond, New Baltimore, Oneida, Pattersonville, Plattekill, Stoatsburg and Ulster.

Nelson Farms, operated by the Morrisville Auxiliary Corporation (MAC), is a unique combination of a business incubator and food product processing facility. It assists entrepreneurs, including Morrisville students and existing private firms, with product development, small-scale food processing, marketing and sales, and distribution. It is also a distributor of local New York products for the entire state.

The festive emporiumis also gearing up for the holidays, tailoring gift boxes filled with savory goodies and holiday confections.

A variety of themed gift boxes will be for sale this weekend at the Country Store, which feature an array of more than 500 New York products: jams and jellies, syrups, barbe- cue sauces, marinara and gourmet pasta sauces, mustards, pancake mixes, chocolate sauces, nuts, candy, soup and more.

Themed boxes include: Pizza Night; Breakfast Charmer; Nuts Over Chocolate; Grandma’s House; Live, Love, Madison County; and Italian Celebration. Patrons also can customize their ownboxes.

For more information on holiday boxes at Nelson Farms Country Store, call 315-655-3301 or visit www. nelsonfarms.org. Items can be shipped anywhere in the Continental U.S.

Nelson Farms Country Store extended holiday hours Dec. 4-22 are: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu.

PHOTO BY KEN CHAPMAN -- NEW MEDIA STRATEGIST | MORRISVILLE STATE COLLEGE Cortney White, a Morrisville equine student from Buffalo, stirs ingredients for “On the Go” energy bites, which hit the shelves at Nelson Farms Country Store this week. The product is one of three devised in associate professor Sheila Marshman’s...