A 5-day intensive training course for Food Entrepreneurs gets started in Galway, Ireland

The Creating Entrepreneurs in Food project held its second major event for food-related entrepreneurs from 12^_16th March 2018 at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT). This 5-day taster course provides entrepreneurial training and development for those involved in short food supply chains: providing established and aspiring entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills to start and grow businesses in food and farming.

The event has received excellent responses from food enterprises in the UK:

I believe the course would be very beneficial to us, particularly as young entrepreneurs to help guide our business journey with the training and successful entrepreneurs advice. The topics covered, such as business planning, branding and packaging are all current aspects we are working on and very relevant to where we are at now.

This programme will give me the first hand understanding of entrepreneurial concepts in agriculture sector. I would be able to use some of the material from the course and would love to share my knowledge with other participants and organisers of the course.

The time has now come when I feel that the correct training will help me immensely and the Entrepreneurial Course looks to cover all aspects of what I need to know. I would love to take this business where I feel it has the potential to go and this course should equip me with the skills and contacts to just that.

Introducing the course, successful food entrepreneur Brendan Allen invited twenty-five delegates from across Europe to pitch their ideas to the audience as part of the course’s process to apply academic theory to the practicalities of developing successful business and innovative models for both new start-ups and those looking to scale-up to the next phase of development.

The pitches included innovative products such as herbal teas, a timeshare kitchen, healthy takeaways, ecological beef and pork production and community supported agriculture. Many focussed on sustainability and high-end quality production. The course includes visits to successful entrepreneurs with short food supply chains. It covers market research, marketing and branding a food business and business plan production and presentation.

Among 25 delegates, seven of them are from the UK. They are either running their own food business or at the start up stage of their food enterprise.

Returning to the UK after their training, the UK participants provided very positive feedback about their training experience, including “We had a great week and left feeling very inspired!” and “The training was very inspiring and a good opportunity to connect with entrepreneurs around Europe.”

The project is funded by the EU and led by Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Ireland in partnership with the University of Bedfordshire in the UK, CEJA in Belgium and the Polish Beef Association, Poland.

For more information about the project, please visit:

• www.creatingentrepreneursinfood.eu
• www.beds.ac.uk/research-ref/bmri/projects/current/creating-entrepreneurs-in-food