Register for our
Grow National 2025 workshops!
Program Elements
Seed to Sprout (One Day Workshop)
April 2025
Ripe & Ready
Delivered over the course of 2025
DESIGNED FOR:
Food, beverage and agribusiness startups looking to transform early-stage ideas into viable businesses. This program also supports existing small businesses wanting to strengthen their understanding of food manufacturing fundamentals. (In person learning)
Introduction
Seed to Sprout is a one-day, in-person workshop that helps small-scale food and beverage businesses build strong foundations for growth. Delivered by industry specialists, it offers practical, actionable insights tailored to early-stage producers navigating the complex world of food manufacturing.
Whether you’re refining your product, preparing to scale, or seeking to understand what it takes to get on retail shelves – this workshop will guide you through the essential building blocks of a successful food or beverage business.
Workshop Topics
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You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know – Core knowledge for small businesses, supply chain terms, organisation, and communication essentials.
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The Road Rules for Food Manufacture – Food safety, risk, compliance, shelf life, spoilage, preservation, and council/legislative requirements.
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Planning to Scale Up – Using the fictional ‘FAN Kitchen’ to explore future planning and readiness.
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Supercharging with AI – How artificial intelligence can be used to improve packaging and marketing.
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Organising for Growth & Profitability – Managing costs, margins, planning for financial sustainability.
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Selling More & Getting a Foot in the Door – Choosing the right sales channels, building sales materials, and refining your pitch.
This program is also designed to be a pathway for the Ripe and Ready Program.
Seed to Sprout 2025 has taken place, if you missed out, please register an EOI below – we will keep your details for future offerings.
DESIGNED FOR:
Established food, beverage and agribusinesses looking to scale production, streamline operations, enhance brand presence, and expand into new markets – locally and globally. (In person learning)
Introduction
Ripe & Ready is an accelerator program that supports growth-stage businesses to refine their operations, commercialise new products, and unlock scale-up opportunities. Through expert-led workshops, mentoring, peer networking, and practical tools, participants will gain the knowledge and confidence to take their business to the next level.
Each workshop explores a critical element of business growth, with tailored support across production, compliance, branding, exporting, technology, leadership, and investment readiness.
Program Highlights
Scaling Production & Cost Management – Learn how to grow profitably, manage costs, and streamline manufacturing.
Innovation & Product Development – Turn ideas into products through structured new product development (NPD) tools and regulatory understanding.
Export Readiness – Understand global opportunities and what it takes to adapt your business for international markets.
ESG, Compliance & Labelling – Navigate allergen labelling, sustainability, and governance requirements with expert guidance.
Packaging & Brand Strategy – Design sustainable, shelf-ready packaging and build a brand that resonates with your market.
Leadership & Business Tools – Build your leadership capability, manage teams, and improve financial and legal foundations.
Pitching, Pricing & Promotion – Refine your pitch, understand pricing strategies, and explore promotion channels.
Technology & AI – Learn how artificial intelligence and smart tools can supercharge your food business.
Program Cost
To help cover venue, catering, and other delivery expenses, each Grow National: Ripe & Ready workshop will have a nominal participation fee. This fee ensures we can continue to provide quality venues, expert facilitators, and a great experience for all attendees.
Exact fees will be listed with each workshop’s details, and we aim to keep costs as accessible as possible to support your growth journey.
Ripe & Ready Workshops listed below
Ripe & Ready Workshops 2025
Food Industry Leaders Toolkit – To lead effectively in food and beverage manufacturing, technical skills aren’t enough. This interactive workshop will equip you with tools to better manage both yourself and your team, helping to retain top talent.
Reducing Costs in Food & Beverage Manufacturing – A practical workshop designed to provide your business with cost reduction strategies across materials, staffing, energy and transport. Alongside FaBA, FAN’s strategic accounting partner SRJ Walker Wayland are attending and contributing to this session.
Artificial Intelligence in the Food & Beverage Sector – Scaling with Technology and Enhancing the Customer Experience – Discover how AI is transforming F&B and your business, from smart production to customer experience, in this hands-on workshop with UQ and CSIRO experts. Suitable for those businesses starting out, along with those much further along in their journey.
NOTE: The information outlined above is not final and subject to minor changes.
DESIGNED FOR:
Food, beverage and agri business startups looking to turn their fledgling businesses into a viable operations. Or already established businesses wanting to get F&B business fundamentals answered.
Introduction
This program consisting of a one-day workshop, online menu and post workshop support, is designed for small food, beverage and agri businesses and outlines the fundamentals required to operate a successful F&B business. Created by industry specialists, with presentations from leading retail experts and passionate local businesses – participants will hear practical and actionable advice on topics including:
Workshop Topics
- Product: Defining target consumer and your product’s USP
- Production: Navigating permits, licences and certifications
- Packaging / Labelling: Packaging 101, barcoding and what’s needed on the label
- Pricing: Price points to achieve margins for the business and distribution & retail partners
- Promotion: Key channels and strategies to raise brand awareness
- Pitching: Understanding what a retailer / distributor needs to see in a product pitch
- Partners: Accessing grants, R&D opportunities, new product innovations
This program is also designed to be a pathway for the Ripe and Ready Program.
DESIGNED FOR:
Established food, beverage and agri businesses looking to scale their distribution, production and market access beyond their current operations.
Introduction
This program will be held over a 10 week period and will be broken into two streams. Created by food and beverage industry specialists, with presentations from leading experts and national businesses – participants will hear practical and actionable advice on topics including:
Workshop Topics
- Your why
- Getting the most out of the program
Food and beverage product development topics
- New product development
- Scaling manufacturing production processes
- R&D process
- Packaging
- Pitching / Pricing
Business Growth and Scaling topics
- Advance financial management
- Legal, contracts and IP
- Distribution and Export
- Advanced promotions and marketing
- Investment Readiness and scaling
Week 1
- Scaling Manufacturing Processes
- Workshop with Chelsea Ford
Week 2
- Food Manufacturing Technology: Innovation & Product Development
Delivery partner FaBA
Week 3
- Export Readiness
- Environmental, Social Governance (ESG)
Delivery partner FaBA
Concurrent Delivery of above modules on day - participants choice
Week 4
- Allergen Labelling Requirements & Compliance
Delivery partner FaBA
Week 5
- Sustainable Packaging in Food Manufacturing
Delivery partner FaBA
Week 6
- Food Industry Leader’s Toolkit
Delivery partner FaBA
Week 7
- Essential Business Practices for Cost Reduction
Delivery partner FaBA
Week 8
- Pitching & Pricing Strategies
Week 9
- Food Preservation Principles & Process Control.
Delivery partner FaBA
Week 10
- AI in the Food & Beverage Sector
Delivery partner FaBA
- Brand Strategy Deep Dive
Concurrent Delivery of above modules on day - participants choice
The Grow National program is a new pathway for food, beverage and agri businesses in the start up and scale up journey that builds capability and networks at all levels enabling them to grow into sustainable, profitable businesses.
Grow National leverages two significant upcoming opportunities presented to our industry namely
- Buy Queensland 2032 procurement for 2032 Brisbane Olympics
- Turbine Australia’s first collaborative F&B manufacturing facility
Grow National will create a pipeline of Queensland businesses that have the capability and capacity to leverage the Buy Queensland approach around procurement for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics
Grow National will create a commercialisation pathway that also raise awareness of collaboration opportunities across Turbine ecosystem’s range of capabilities and provide industry training on overcoming barriers and achieving scale through contract manufacturing.
Grow Coastal Graduates 2018
Grow Coastal 2017-2019
The Grow Coastal Food Innovation Accelerator program ran for three years (2017- 2019) under the auspice of the University of the Sunshine Coast Innovation Centre and funded by Advance Queensland.
Here’s a little look back at the 2018 Graduates!
The Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) was the key Program Partner during this time providing the critical link to industry.
In the second and third years of the program, FAN also delivered the program management services.
Over three years, Grow Coastal assisted 37 local businesses and 54 co-founders (70% female). The program has been a catalyst for success with the three year aggregated economic metrics demonstrating 51 new jobs generated (147% growth), $2.935M in new capital invested, revenue growth of 21% and customer growth of 121%.
Since 2019 FAN’s membership and operating model has expanded with sub clusters established in Noosa, Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay.
Demand for capacity and capability pathway programs continues to surpass ability to deliver programs due to funding constraints.
With food & agriculture a key contributor to economic growth in the regions in which FAN operates, it is timely that FAN evolves Grow Coastal in 2023 – into Grow National with new funding partners.
Grow National is proudly support by the Turbine Project.
When complete, TURBINE will be Australia’s first purpose built, end-to-end food and beverage manufacturing and education precinct – unlocking growth, accelerating innovation and creating a national blueprint for collaborative manufacturing. Stage 1 of the TURBINE Precinct will include a large-scale contract beverage facility; co-located manufacturers; collaborative R&D centre, expertise and training hub. The Precinct is expected to be operational March 2025.
Grow National is proudly supported by the Advance Queensland initiative – Accelerating Female Founders Program.
The Accelerating Female Founders (AFF) program is focussed on funding business support initiatives that foster a pipeline of innovative Queensland female founders, supporting them at every stage of their business and innovation journey, as well as encouraging participation in key industries and technologies.