GRIFFIN — Starting a company from the ground up is a daunting endeavor, but data show a steady climb in start-ups in the United States over the past decade, with more than 330,000 businesses entering the market in 2023.

Jim Gratzek, director of the University of Georgia’s Food Product Innovation and Commercialization Center (FoodPIC), earned his doctorate in food process engineering from UGA’s Department of Food Science and Technology. He returned to the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 2022 after nearly 30 years in the commercial food industry, bringing a new perspective. In his experience, the biggest hurdle for new food entrepreneurs who don’t yet have sufficient working capital or manufacturing facilities is moving a product from concept to consumer.