Driving Innovation by Making Space for New Voices in Craft Entrepreneurship

Lead Researchers:

Jo-Ellen Pozner
Associate Professor, Management & Entrepreneurship Department
Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

Jennifer Woolley
Professor, Management & Entrepreneurship Department
Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

Research Questions

In this study, we explore the demographics of entrepreneurship within the innovation-driven landscape of contemporary craft fields and how this influences innovation therein. We address two primary questions:

What is the relationship between diversity and specialist production in resourced partitioned markets?
Is there something about diverse founders that allows them to create innovative products to serve niche, specialist tastes?

Summary of Methods

To answer these questions, we created a database including 205 US-based bean-to-bar chocolate firms, drawing on industry reports, cacao market journals, academic and scientific articles, certifying organization databases, conference listings, and international association reports. Separately, we created a database of 1786 small distilled spirits producers in the US, which we identified through the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. We conducted semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs and executives from this group, including 80 chocolate interviews (2019-23) and 44 distilling interviews (2021-24); we also spoke to 10 craft brewers 10 brewing (2021-24).

Key Findings: Driving Innovation by Making Space for New Voices in Craft Entrepreneurship
Our data analysis is still ongoing, but we have some preliminary fundings. First, though there is plenty of casual sexism in craft fields, there does not appear to be systematic exclusion because craft producers value diversity. Our subjects believe that representation matters but that it is secondary to taste and innovation in craft industries. They feel that their demographic differences imply different palates, which in turn enable them to introduce different and more interesting products to the market. Their differences also free them from contraints based on expectations, enabling them to become more creative.

Key Findings: Driving Innovation by Making Space for New Voices in Craft Entrepreneurship

Our data analysis is still ongoing, but we have some preliminary fundings. First, though there is plenty of casual sexism in craft fields, there does not appear to be systematic exclusion because craft producers value diversity. Our subjects believe that representation matters but that it is secondary to taste and innovation in craft industries. They feel that their demographic differences imply different palates, which in turn enable them to introduce different and more interesting products to the market. Their differences also free them from contraints based on expectations, enabling them to become more creative.

Future Implications:

We will continue to analyze our data to generate broader implications and future research directions.

Support from the Ciocca Center

Support from the Ciocca Center enabled us to travel to several conferences in the summer of 2025, getting feedback on our ideas and networking with colleagues. This input will help us continue to refine our work and move it toward publication.