SMARTstart to Host Food Vendor Fair Featuring Local Entrepreneurs

January 21, 2026

Join us for our largest Food Vendor Fair to date and support SMARTstart incubator members serving a variety of food from Jamaican cuisine to freshly brewed espresso.

PASCO COUNTY, FLORIDA (January 21, 2026): Join us for the 6th Annual SMARTstart Food Vendor Fair, hosted by the UF/IFAS Extension Pasco County and Pasco Economic Development Council (Pasco EDC), on Thursday, January 29, 2026. This family-friendly food event aims to share incubator business opportunities and support our current food entrepreneurs’ businesses. This is a great opportunity to purchase some amazing food and arrange event catering or gifts.

“Events like the SMARTstart Food Vendor Fair highlight the incredible talent and diversity of Pasco County’s small business community,” says Pasco County Board of County Commissioners Chair Jack Mariano. “Supporting these entrepreneurs strengthens our local economy and showcases the innovation happening right here in our own backyard.”

The East Pasco Incubator Kitchen (EPIK) features a unique commercial incubator kitchen where budding food entrepreneurs can produce food in a licensed commercial kitchen and then utilize the packaging and labeling station to create nutrition fact labels for their products. Additionally, the EPIK members get access to business coaching through the SMARTstart Program. This center is co-located with UF/IFAS Extension Pasco County and features a community garden where SMARTstart members can grow their own ingredients.

"Every year we are excited to see the new culinary creations coming out of the East Pasco Incubator Kitchen and would be honored if the public were to join us to see what's cooking," shared Dan Mitchell, EDP, Assistant Vice President, Entrepreneurship, Pasco EDC.

Participating SMARTstart Incubator members include:

• Bee Ready 4 Anything
  • Sells honey and bees and provides bee removal services and pollination services.
• Bean Buggy and Co.
  • Mobile coffee trailer serving espresso, desserts, bagel sandwiches, and craft drinks for events and catering across Tampa.
• Blue Crow Espresso
  • Pours delicious espresso from their mobile coffee bike.
• Boots on Grind Catering by Chef Jasmin
  • Veteran-owned catering and private chef business based in Wesley Chapel specializing in authentic Puerto Rican cuisine and other culturally inspired dishes.
• Da Flava Spot
  • Serves Jamaican cuisine, specializing in jerk chicken and more.
• Edenesque 
  • Specializes in homemade beef jerky and freeze-dried fruits and vegetables.
• Finga Lickin Ting
  • Offers authentic Jamaican patties and other traditional pastries.
• Maggie's Snow Shoppe
  • Mobile Shave Ice business specializing in making syrups from scratch using fresh fruit.
• Peppa & Thyme Provisions, LLC
  • A Jamaican-inspired food truck and catering service bringing bold island flavors to the Tampa Bay Area.
• Pucker and Pop
  • Serves specialty lemonade and old school dirty sodas.
• Son'ni Boi & Petal, Inc
  • Specializes in creating sweet treats for company events, parties, or family gathering, offering their signature cashew brittle and more.
• Vlania's Tres Leches
  • Specializes in creating Tres Leches cakes with a modern spin embracing creative and innovative flavors.

The 6th Annual Food Vendor Fair will be held Thursday, January 29, 2026, from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the SMARTstart East Pasco Incubator Kitchen, 15029 14th Street, Dade City, Florida, 33523. Admission and parking are free; vendors’ item prices will vary. 

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Through Pasco EDC’s SMARTstart program, Pasco businesses are provided with the guidance, workspace, education collaboration and funding they need to start and grow a business. Pasco County Cooperative Extension develops and delivers practical, educational programs in environmental horticulture; sustainable agriculture; 4‑H and youth development; and family and consumer sciences.  For more information, visit the website HERE or call (352) 518-0156.

About Pasco Economic Development Council
The Pasco Economic Development Council is committed to developing Florida's most competitive climate for business growth by providing businesses that seek to start, move, or grow in the North Tampa Bay area, a comprehensive suite of programs that can help them to reach their full economic potential.  Since 1987, Pasco EDC has fostered a strong partnership funded by corporate and public investors focused on the economic vitality of Pasco County.  Discover more at www.pascoedc.com.