Service
Food Starter and Food Academy - LEO Waterford
A two-stage food business pathway from LEO Waterford: a two-day Food Starter programme for early-stage ideas, feeding into the 5-month Food Academy Start retail-readiness programme with SuperValu.
Key details
- Provider
- Local Enterprise Office Waterford
- Who it is for
- Thinking about starting, Startups, Sole traders, 1–9 people
- Where available
- Waterford
- Format
- In person
- Cost
- Paid — EUR 150 for the Food Academy Start Programme.
- How to access it
- Apply for Food Starter and Food Academy Start through LEO Waterford's Food Supports page.
What this service helps with
Early-stage Waterford food and drink producers need a structured pathway from idea validation through to getting a product onto retail shelves.
About this support
LEO Waterford's Food Supports pages describe two linked programmes. The Food Starter Programme is a two-day course for people with a food idea or in the first 24 months of a food business, covering research, feasibility, Irish market trends, food safety, and routes to market on day one, and costing, funding, distribution and logistics on day two; it is not suitable for cafes, restaurants or foodservice, or for near-foods such as pet food. Completing Food Starter is a prerequisite for the Food Academy Start Programme, a 5-month programme of 8 modules delivered over 4 days of workshop-style training plus individual mentoring, run in partnership with SuperValu and Bord Bia. Participants pitch to a SuperValu panel, receive 3 one-to-one mentoring sessions, and successful participants get a 12-week trial of their product in SuperValu stores. Food Academy Start carries a published fee of EUR 150.
Where it is available
Available in Waterford.
County Waterford
Eligibility
Open to those with a food idea or in the first 24 months of trading; Food Starter is a prerequisite for Food Academy Start; not for cafes, restaurants, foodservice or near-foods.
Not covered
Not suitable for those planning a cafe, restaurant or foodservice operation, or for near-food producers such as pet food or health supplements.
Eligibility is recorded from the provider’s own published information. Confirm the current conditions with the provider before applying.
Sectors
All sectors