Food Matters Live 2019 is pleased to unveil a bespoke, curated pavilion dedicated to showcasing the latest sustainable and nutritious food and drink innovations from around the UK.
Open to the creative and innovative food and drink start-up community, this pavilion will connect UK buyers looking to meet and do business with the UK’s most promising brands of the future.
Who can apply and how does it work? UK start-ups who are less than two years old are invited to apply for a place on this prestigious pavilion. What makes it unique is that a panel of food and drink experts, involved in the buying process, will be reviewing all the applications and selecting the participants for the Future Brands Pavilion.
The judges include Paul Hargreaves, Chief Executive, Cotswold Fayre; Wan Mak, Head of Nutrition, Sodexo; Olivier Sevenou, R&D Lead – Future-facing Health & Wellbeing, pladis Global; and Tom Elliott, Origination & Development Manager – Future Brands, Sainsbury’s.
As well as an innovative concept that meets consumer demand in health and wellbeing, the judges will be looking for proof of commercial success to date to include the number of existing customers, marketing and distribution channels and future growth strategy.
Every start-up will receive feedback on their application, which will help inform their future business development. Successful applicants will be invited to display their innovations as part of an attractive, purpose built pavilion designed by Food Matters Live
Taking matchmaking one step further
A targeted marketing campaign will promote the Pavilion and run alongside a tailored matchmaking service provided by the Food Matters Live partnerships and hosted buyer team.
Briony Mansell-Lewis, Director at Food Matters Live commented: “With SME’s now representing 97% of the food and drink businesses in the UK* we are seeing how these small, agile and creative food and drink producers are transforming categories, changing retail shelves and providing consumers with a great variety of nutritious, sustainable choices.
With the rise in the number of start-ups, we also recognise the pressure on buyers to keep ahead of the most innovative brands coming on to the market.
By taking this curated approach to creating a UK Future Brands Pavilion, we believe that we can add value to both communities – on the one hand, providing buyers with an efficient way to meet and do business with the brands of the future and on the other, helping ambitious, entrepreneurial start-ups succeed in a competitive market.”
If you are a start-up food and drink producer and would like to apply for a place on this unique Pavilion, get in touch…. Entries close 12 July 2019.
The sixth Food Matters Live will take place on 19-20 November 2019 at ExCeL London with the launch of the UK Future Brands Pavilion. This unique event brings together the food and drink industry, retailers, foodservice providers, government, and those working in nutrition and health. In addition to an extensive exhibition, Food Matters Live offers a multi-stream seminar programme and thought-provoking theatre attractions, featuring hundreds of speakers covering wide-ranging topics – from the latest food and public health policies to the future for the free-from food and drink market, latest trends in sustainable retailing, packaging design and exemplar brand strategies.
