New food expo aims to showcase, promote Sierra Foothills small food businesses
Sierra Commons, the Nevada City-based nonprofit dedicated to developing local small businesses, will host its inaugural event showcasing area food entrepreneurs. The event, called FoodX, will take place Saturday, September 26, at Miners Foundry Cultural Center at 325 Spring St.
Among its programs, Sierra Commons offers mentorship for budding businesses. One program, Business Igniter, is designed to help would-be entrepreneurs go from concept to a working business model. In addition, it offers Food Accelerator, which focuses on the particular needs of food businesses, covering things like permitting, sourcing and food safety. Several local food businesses have gone through both programs.
“The culminating event of a cohort is a graduation party, where the businesses get to present their food and get feedback and celebrate. So we wanted to do a kind of a big ‘ta-da!’ and bring all of our graduates together for a joint celebration,” said Sierra Commons founder and executive director Robert X. Trent.
The event will happen the day after another event, Food Fight, hosted by Sierra Harvest, another nonprofit whose mission is to promote fresh, local and seasonal food in Nevada County. Food Fight is a tasting event with chefs, bartenders and makers offering bites that are 100 percent locally sourced. The two events will comprise the first-ever Sierra Foothills Food Festival, which the two organizations hope to repeat every year.
FoodX will feature up to 45 booths where entrepreneurs can showcase their goods and services. The event is not limited to entities in Nevada City and Grass Valley; it’s open to any food business in the foothills.
“We have this concept of setting up a mock grocery store aisle full of local products to showcase what local food looks like. There’s going to be education, little talks and demonstrations, so it’s going to be a really robust event,” Trent said.
The event is meant to draw both consumers looking to experience new food businesses as well as prospective industry partners who can elevate the businesses.
“We’re trying to gather buyers and investors and people like that, that can help elevate our entrepreneurs. Let’s say they just got a cottage food license, but they have their eyes set on having wider distribution, then we can help them make connections to do what it takes to scale their business,” Trent said.
Starting at 4 p.m., the event moves outside for Wine Down, a social event with food trucks and live music. Tickets to FoodX will go on sale July 6.
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 10:00 AM.
