Over 30 people attended the free event which offered a day of discovery aimed particularly at dairy, drinks and bakery producers. Guest sector speakers Carol Myott and Hugh Myott, co-owners of Flapjackery, Barny Butterfield, founder of Sandford Orchards, Greg Parsons, co-owner of Sharpham Dairy and Chair of Food Drink Devon, shared industry insights and advice. In addition, co-founder of Black Bee Honey, Paul Webb, who has recently hired the trial kitchen for development of a new product, and Mateusz Wolf, founder of Food Buzz, shared their own experiences with The Food WorksSW.

The day included kitchen demonstrations from the centre's in-house technical experts, Zoe Plant, Beth Winters and Rachel Goff, who showcased each of the kitchen's specialist equipment and highlighted the technical advice they offer businesses. A tour of Food WorksSW's commercial kitchen, meeting room and conference facilities, as well as one-to-one business support meetings and discussions were also available throughout the day. 

Commenting on the Discovery Day, Carol said, “Hugh and I had a fantastic morning at Food WorksSW sharing our story and connecting with so many passionate food and drink entrepreneurs. Scaling a business in this sector is tough, so events like this are invaluable. The centre offers incredible support for anyone looking to innovate or take their brand to the next level.”

Barny added, “This is the first time I've visited The Food WorksSW and I'm really impressed. The facilities are top-notch. It's been a pleasure to share my experiences and meet like-minded business owners. The centre is a game-changer for food and drink startups.”

Greg commented, “I'm passionately involved in supporting the food, drink and farming sector, as both the owner of Sharpham Dairy and the Chair of Food Drink Devon, which is why I got involved with this brilliant event. I wanted to share some of the knowledge and experience I've gained from more than 35 years in the industry. More importantly, I wanted to help promote what great facilities are available here. The Food WorksSW provides a pathway for people to simply get into the industry, to start up their own business or grow an existing one.” 

Paul shared how the Food WorksSW's trial kitchen played a crucial role in developing Black Bee Honey's latest product. “We needed a space to experiment with new honey and chilli combinations. Zoe's technical expertise and the centre's facilities were exactly what we needed for our new product and we're now looking at large scale production.”

Mateusz added, “I was delighted to be invited to talk about drinks development and run through a canning trial line as part of the Discovery Day. It was a great opportunity to show guests how the new equipment in the drinks kitchen can produce small pilot batches or help businesses scale up.”

On behalf of the on-site technical team, Zoe added, “It's been wonderful to meet so many new businesses and showcase everything The Food WorksSW has to offer. We talked about our new canning line in the drinks kitchen, introduced our new homogeniser in the dairy kitchen and highlighted recent upgrades to the bakery kitchen, which have improved conditions for chocolate and pastry production. The feedback has been extremely positive and we're very grateful to our guest speakers for sharing their time and expertise to inspire and support our attendees with their wealth of industry knowledge.”

Since opening in 2020, the North Somerset centre has supported 300 businesses, helping them to develop, diversify and grow their product and menu offerings, and aims to help many more in the coming years through enhanced facilities and resources.

Created by North Somerset Council and operated by the Future Food Partnership CIC, a not-for-private-profit Community Interest Company, The Food WorksSW provides start-ups, established companies and hospitality businesses with the experience and equipment they need to grow and innovate. Located in Weston-super-Mare, less than 30 minutes from Bristol, the centre is the only one in the South West. 

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.

For more information about The Food WorksSW, visit foodworks-sw.co.uk, or follow @foodworks_sw on Instagram, Facebook and X. 

-ENDS-

For high res images please see this link. 

For further information please contact - Emilie Morris: emilie@rawfoodanddrinkpr.co.uk or Rebecca Payne: rebecca@rawfoodanddrink.co.uk

Notes to Editor

About The Food WorksSW

• The centre was created by North Somerset Council following feedback from food and drink producers that they needed facilities and support as it wasn't available elsewhere. For many, this limited their ability to grow their business and create jobs. The centre now helps UK-based businesses of all kinds - from start-ups to well-established companies and hospitality businesses - to grow or diversify their product offering. Not only does this support the sector, it underpins the council's goal to strengthen economic growth across the area.
• The centre is operated by the Future Food Partnership, a not-for-private-profit Community Interest Company.
• The Food WorksSW food innovation centre is home to five development kitchens, each containing specialist equipment centred around creating different products including dairy, bakery and drinks. These are available for flexible short-term hire by food and drink businesses of all sizes to test, develop and manufacture their products. Specific information about the kitchens and the equipment available can be found at www.foodworks-sw.co.uk/development-kitchen-hire.
• The development kitchens, which are available with or without onsite technical and development support, contain specialist equipment tailored to the areas within the industry - bakery, dairy, drinks, commercial and trial. Flexible short-term contract hire is available for businesses of all sizes to test, develop and manufacture their food and drink products, or dishes, with prices starting from just £96.90 per day (including VAT).
• The Food WorksSW technical team provides businesses with support including food safety and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP); developing a product; scaling up production; product costing; labelling compliance; and certification such as British Retail Consortium (BRCGS) and Safe and Local Supplier Approval (SALSA). More information can be found at www.foodworks-sw.co.uk/technical-support. Support bundles are also now available: www.foodworks-sw.co.uk/bundles 
• All of the 12 on-site food-grade business units at The Food WorksSW are currently let and in use by food and drink producers. With 24/7 access to the secure sites, the units contain food-grade non-slip resin flooring, a staff kitchen and changing area, roller shutter doors, three and single phase electricity, video intercom system and access control, discounted use of the development kitchen space and meeting rooms, access to specialist business and technical development support through the site operators, The Future Food Partnership CIC.
• The food and drink innovation centre also includes meeting rooms, conference facilities and a coffee shop where events can be hosted. Anyone is welcome - businesses do not have to operate in the food and drink sector to book these facilities.