The Food WorksSW launches free support scheme for food and drink businesses in the West of England

A free scheme to support food and drink producers, manufacturers, hospitality and food service businesses is now open for applications. The West of England Food and Drink Support Initiative (FDSI) is ready to help businesses start, grow and thrive, and is a fully funded comprehensive programme delivered by The Food WorksSW in Weston-super-Mare, the only food and drink innovation centre in the West of England.

The scheme run by The Food WorksSW will offer a wealth of one-to-one technical and business guidance, along with themed events, workshops and advice on food certification and getting retail-ready. Start-up, micro, small and medium-sized food and drink producers, hospitality and food service businesses based in Bath, Bristol, North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire can apply at www.foodworks-sw.co.uk/westofengland. Businesses outside of these areas can still access support through The Food Works’ commercial technical programme and hire the product development kitchens at affordable rates.

Under the programme, which is funded by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and North Somerset council, Food WorksSW will give support in a range of areas. These include food safety plans for HACCP, food certification advice including SALSA, product shelf life, nutritional and labelling information, recipe development and product scale up. In addition, there will be kitchen and product development guidance where various kitchen locations will be available across the West of England to businesses, along with up to two days kitchen hire and product development support from The Food WorksSW.

Simon Gregory, Director at Food WorksSW said, “We are here to help businesses thrive and are delighted to be able to work with the Councils and their business support partners to deliver this programme of focused activity around food and drink. We hope people will apply for this exciting scheme offering sizeable support at no cost to a business. The specialist team at Food Works has a wealth of industry experience and are ready to guide businesses, whatever their size, through technical and development issues.”

The centre has also recently announced its first ever partnership opportunity that will give businesses the chance to support the team, provide advice and guidance to both existing and emerging food and drink brands, and become an integral part of the country’s food, drink and hospitality scene. To find out more about its partnership opportunities, please visit www.foodworks-sw.co.uk/workingwithus. 

To apply go to www.foodworks-sw.co.uk/westofengland. For more information, call the Food WorksSW team on 01934 287710 or email [email protected].