Foodpreneur

Foodpreneur:

Barry Conway

About the Foodpreneur:

I spent 20 years in the hotel/restaurant industry. I worked for a good majority of the major hotel chains, as well as a few "mom and pops". I was mainly a server, bartender or manager. I never worked in the kitchen, except to wash dishes. At my most recent job, I was in inside sales and learned an incredible amount about business, both good and bad. I have a degree in Industrial Technology, though I wish I would have listened to some advice I heard recently about pursuing a degree:  "Major in anything, minor in business!" Good advice.

I love to cook because I love food. Camping, music, golf and just enjoying nature are a few of my hobbies. I try to learn as much as possible everyday.

About the Bear-Man Biz:

We are a specialty food business. What I mean by this is that we want our products to be special, products that stand out from the rest, products that are made in small batches and aren't found in every store around. We recently won a sofi (TM) Silver, Outstanding Cooking Sauce or Flavor Enhancer for our Bear-Man Growlin Grizzly Barbecue/Dipping Sauce at the New York Fancy Food Show in July. What a thrill! We have 2 barbecue/dipping sauces, a maple sauce (this is very special and tasty too!) and our Tummy Rub dry rub seasoning is great on everything. We are very proud of our Bear-Man products and in 2 years we have garnered a following.

Founded:

September 1, 2005

Marketing Strategies:

The Bear-Man theme has worked well for us, but once we get the product in peoples mouths, that is key. We do a combination of retail shows (direct to consumer) and wholesale shows (direct to retail client). This formula has worked well for us.

In The News:

We have been featured in the Buffalo News, did an ad in Fancy Food and Culinary Products magazine and since we won silver in NY in July we have been in Specialty Food magazine several times. We were featured in a video with The Tiny Kitchen in D.C., and our mascot "Boogie" was in the December issue of Fancy Food and Culinary Products magazine holding their July 2007 issue.

Barry knew Bear-Man was a hit when:

We went to the ANCA show in Saratoga Springs and went from 3 retail accounts to 26 retail accounts. The products were no longer local, we now had a hold on one of the most beautiful places in the world, the Adirondack Region . When we have a repeat show and people say they are glad we are there, that is always cool.

Why does Barry own a food brand?

I LOVE FOOD!!!!!! And this is better than owning a restaurant.

Words from the wise:

I still have rose-colored glasses on and I love everything but anything to do with accounting.

Foodpreneur Says:

If you ever have the opportunity to meet Barry "The Bear-Man" Conway in person, you will see one excited and fired-up entrepreneur!  Why is he so excited?  Because Barry has one of the most important character traits of being a Foodpreneur, he truly believes in his product.  When walking past his booth at the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show in Washington DC this past November,  Barry practically leaped over his display table for me to try his product.  This type of excitement will get the products in the customers hands and produce ever so important sales.  Way too often I walk by exhibitors booths while attending or presenting at food events only to see the owner or the company representative sitting down and not paying attention.  If they are not excited about the product why should I be?  The combination of enthusiasm and a great product will make Barry and his Bear-Man products a winner.

Contacting Bear-Man:

Bear-Man Specialty Foods, LLC
P.O. Box 731
Grand Island, New York 14072
716.829.9536
Website:  Bear-Man