Food Academy Start Programme

Local Enterprise Offices, together with relevant sponsors, may support the development of the artisan food industry by helping early stage food businesses to pitch their business to the retail sector, get expert feedback and advice, avail of mentoring and trial their product in a local shop.

The Food Academy Start Programme is a training programme aimed at supporting and nurturing start-up food businesses. The Local Enterprise Offices have joined forces with Bord Bia and SuperValu on this initiative to provide a consistent level of food marketing knowledge to new and early-stage food business owners.

At the final workshop, participants will get the opportunity to present their product to a panel from SuperValu and if successful, can participate in a trial based in local shops, which in the right circumstances, could progress over time to a national listing with SuperValu. (There is no guarantee of your product being listed as part of the programme, however over 80% of products proceed to trial)