The aim of Food Academy Start is to provide small food business with a solid foundation to progress to the shelves of retailers. All participants in Food Academy will be given the opportunity to pitch their product to a panel of SuperValu representatives including the local SuperValu owner. The panel mentor the businesses, share their expertise and advise to allow the participants to make any changes they deem necessary to improve their offer.

Programme Outline

The Food Academy training programme is a 5-month programme for those looking to develop and grow s small-scale food and drink production business.

The programme consists of 8 modules; The Market & Market Analysis; The Consumer; The Proposition; The Product; Pricing; Marketing; Prepare to Meet the Buyer; Meet the Buyer.  Most modules are run over 1/2 day sessions.

The programme is delivered through workshop style training over 4 days and includes individual mentoring. It is supported by SuperValu in the context of retail expertise and providing a route to market. On successful completion of the programme, SuperValu will provide participants with the opportunity to trial their product in the local stores for a trial period of 12 weeks, providing an advantage for small businesses to gain feedback direct from the retailer providing an opportunity to further develop their product, marketing approach, packaging and distribution.  In addition to this mentoring is a significant aspect of the programme with 3 one to one mentoring sessions being phased throughout the modules, to ensure the programme learnings are applied directly to the client business.

The Food Academy is an initiative developed through collaboration between the Local Enterprise Office, Bord Bia and Super Valu.

The Cost

There is a fee of €150 for participation in this course. 

The 2022 Programme is open for applications until Friday, 8th April 2022