Celebration and Support: 2026 Naturally Rising Pitch Competition Goes Live in Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s natural products community came together on May 14 for the first-ever live Naturally Rising Wisconsin Pitch Competition, an evening filled with entrepreneurial energy, inspiring stories, and strong community support.
Hosted at Fortune Favors and presented by Naturally Wisconsin, this year’s event marked an exciting evolution for Naturally Rising Wisconsin, bringing founders, industry leaders, retailers, and supporters together in person to celebrate emerging brands in Wisconsin’s natural and specialty food ecosystem.
After hearing pitches from an impressive group of finalists, judges selected the following 2026 winners:
Regional Winner: Teddy's Tallow Chips
Emerging Impact Winner: Alaska Fresh Seafood
Audience Choice Winner: Tortilleria Zepeda
The Regional Winner, Teddy’s Tallow Chips, will go on to represent Wisconsin at the Naturally Network National Pitch Slam during Newtopia Now in Denver this August.
This year’s finalists also included:
Mock & Co.
Beautiful Harvest
Luba Libations
In addition to industry exposure and recognition, winners received valuable business development prizes and support opportunities designed to help accelerate growth.
Regional Winner Prize Package
Free booth at Newtopia Now 2026 in Denver, Colorado
Opportunity to compete at the Naturally Network National Pitch Slam
Exhibit space at the 2026 Food Finance Forum & Expo at the WGA Innovation Expo
Brand strategy consulting from Real Food Brands
Feature interview on The Food Business Marketing Podcast
Amazon Profit Map by Waypoint
Emerging Impact Prize
Brand strategy consulting from Real Food Brands
Audience Choice Prize
Brand strategy consulting from Real Food Brands
The event was emceed by Sam McDaniel and featured an outstanding panel of judges, including Nubian Simmons, Jessica Benish, Sascha Dhanjal, Katie Mleziva, and Vincent Rice.
Naturally Wisconsin also extends sincere thanks to the Naturally Wisconsin Advisory Council for serving on the selection committee and helping rally support for the event across the state.
Most importantly, the evening highlighted the strength, creativity, and camaraderie of Wisconsin’s growing natural products community. Entrepreneurs, supporters, and industry partners gathered not just to compete, but to connect, collaborate, and celebrate one another’s work.
Thank you to everyone who attended, pitched, judged, volunteered, and helped make this inaugural live event such a success. We can’t wait to see what’s ahead for these incredible brands — and for Wisconsin’s natural products community as a whole.