Food Starter Programme - Helping you to set up your food business

This ‘Food Starter' programme will be delivered over four half days. It is designed to help those with a food idea or those at a very early stage of starting up a food business (typically the first 24 months).

The objective of the course is to provide the participants with a base knowledge of what is involved in setting up a food business. The content is designed to provide you with information which will allow you to avoid the pitfalls normally associated with this journey.

The course content assumes you have the required business knowledge to run your enterprise e.g. you must already understand the basics of setting up a business, tax compliance rules, creating a business plan etc, if not you can do this in conjunction with our Start Your Own Business Programme.

While certain aspects of the syllabus are relevant to those setting up cafes/restaurants, the core content is designed for those producing food to be sold through third parties i.e. food producers.

For those considering applying for the Food Academy Programme in the future, this course will provide an excellent opportunity to boost your chances of securing a place.

The classes will run over four half days. Participants must attend every day.

Venue:

Online

Date:

18th September 9.30am - 1.00pm

19th September 9.30am - 1.00pm

25th September 9.30am - 1.00pm

26th September 9.30am - 1.00pm

Cost

€50

Programme Overview:

Workshop One - Delivered Over Two Half Days.

09.30 - 10.00 Introduction and programme outline.
10.00 - 10.30 Course Participant objectives Review.
10.30 - 11.15 Successful small business stories, videos and case studies.
11.15 - 11.30 BREAK
11.30 - 11.45 Outline of business feasibility study
11.45 - 12.00 Consumer and market research
12.00 - 12.30 Market Trends and drivers.
12.30 - 12.45 Primary Market research
12.45 - 13.00 Measuring market gaps

Second Half Day

09.30 - 10.30 Food safety and legislations
10.30 - 11.00 Packaging
11.00 - 11.30 BREAK
11.30 - 11.45 Considerations for developing your product for launch
11.45 - 12.30 Selecting the right channel/route to market
12.30 - 1.00 Close and talk through exercises to be completed for the next workshop

Workshop Two - Delivered Over Two Half Days.

Third Half Day

09.30 - 10.00 Exercise reviews.
10.00 - 10.30 Costings and Managing Finance.
10.30 - 11.00 BREAK
11.00 - 11.30 State Agency Supports and sources of funding
11.30 - 12.00 Case Study
12.00 - 1.00 Distribution and Logistics

Fourth Half Day

09.30 - 10.00 Identifying you Unique Selling Points
10.00 - 11.00 Understanding Branding
11.00 - 11.30 BREAK
11.30 - 11.45 Brand and Packaging Review Exercise
11.45 - 12.15 Communicating your brand - Marketing/PR
12.15 - 1.00 Next steps & Q&A

The Trainers:

This course will be delivered by Conor Hyde of Bullseye Food Marketing who has a wealth of experience working with the food production sector.

Workshop Material:

Handouts, templates and case studies will be provided to you.

Mentoring:

This programme includes four hours one to one mentoring for each business.

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa via email lisa.oconnell@leitrimcoco.ie or call 071 9650420