Food Accelerator

Tailored technical and business support to take a new plant-based food and drink ideas to market.

Technical and Business Support

The Food Accelerator is a three-month programme to support the development of innovative plant-based food and drink ideas. It provides fully-funded technical, business, and financial guidance to help transform early-stage concepts into viable commercial products.

Based at the University of Greenwich’s, the programme provides access to the Medway Food Innovation Centre’s advanced facilities. Participants can develop and refine products, create prototypes, and explore new processes or technologies with support from an experienced research team.

The programme structure creates the opportunity to connect with other like-minded entrepreneurs and it is closely aligned with the Growing Kent & Medway mentoring scheme.

Delivering Innovation in Plant-based Food and Drink

159

businesses have taken part in the Food Accelerator.

8

separate cohorts delivered.

7

businesses selected for an advanced Accelerator.

54

new products brought to market.

Growing Kent & Medway

9 min read

A rich heritage of traditional African cuisine meets with a passion for technology, innovation and adapting to modern food trends in the food brand, Konero. We caught up with food entrepreneur and founder, Gideon Effiong to hear how his...

Innovating the recipe box market with a taste of Nigeria: Meet Konero

Growing Kent & Medway

3 min read

When discussing our wellbeing, the topics of gut health, immunity and digestion soon appear in conversation. To such extent, #guttok is continuously trending on TikTok. The popping up of food and drink products promising a greater sense...

Can we hack our way to better gut health?

Growing Kent & Medway

5 min read

A traditional Victorian-style recipe handed down through generations has been given a modern, eco-upgrade. Entrepreneur Lisa Fraser, from Frasers of Egerton, has developed one of the first net-zero Christmas puddings. Thanks to a...

A net-zero Christmas pudding

Case Studies

Discover the innovative entrepreneurs supported by the Growing Kent & Medway Food Accelerator to bring new products to market.

Woman (Cecilia Wu) smiles, holding two bottles of Super Bio Shot. Display banner says "Trust Your Gut, Feel Your Best." Indoor event setting.

Scaling Science-Backed Gut Health Drinks for Retail with Cecii Health

Cecii Health utilised our business support ecosystem to transform a handmade fermented juice shot into a scalable, market-ready product. By combining technical R&D from our Food Accelerator with expert business mentoring, founder Cecilia Wu has refined her formulation, become a finalist for the Nourish Awards, and is now scaling up for national retail.

Growing Kent & Medway

4 min read

Woman stands by a table with Root Mylk brochures and products in the Medway Food Innovation Centre lab. Wears patterned dress and glasses, looking at the camera.

Stabilising African Superfoods for the Plant-Based Market with Root Mylk

Root Mylk, a Kent-based wellness brand, successfully stabilised their plant-based Tigernut drinks using advanced processing techniques supported by Growing Kent & Medway. By collaborating with the University of Greenwich, they developed a clean-label formulation that eliminates separation and increases shelf life, paving the way for a major retail launch.

Growing Kent & Medway

4 min read

Woman (Marie-Laure Prevost) in lab coat and hairnet examines a red fermented snack closely in a lab setting with bright lighting, conveying focus and precision.

Creating Gut-Friendly Snacks from Rescued Fruit with Fermenti

Fermenti, a start-up founded in Kent, utilised our support ecosystem to transform fresh produce by-products into shelf-stable, gut-friendly snacks. By collaborating with Nim’s Naturally through one of our medium-sized grant programmes, they successfully developed a low-carbon manufacturing process for fermented treats that retains essential live cultures.

Growing Kent & Medway

4 min read

Testimonials

Supporting a community of entrepreneurs to bring new products to market.

"Joining the last Food Accelerator cohort was a game-changer for my startup journey. It’s hands down one of the best programs I’ve ever participated in, offering incredible people, resources, and support to help you succeed."

Cecilia Wu, Cecii Health

Taking a new plant-based food product to market

00:54

Empowering Food Entrepreneurs: Maria's Journey with Shwen Shwen #shorts

01:18

🥜 A Crunch Above the Rest: Abby’s Food Accelerator Journey #shorts

01:00

🌱 Moo-ve over, dairy! 🐮 Plant-based clotted cream is nearly here! #shorts

01:07

🌾 West African Flavours To Go: Samantha's Food Accelerator Journey #shorts

Expert Advice

From finding funding, scaling production, to food safety, our workshops and webinars offer tailored advice from industry specialists to help launch and scale food and drink businesses.

Growing Kent & Medway

5 min read

How do different generations make purchasing decisions when it comes to choosing food and drink brands? And how can you adapt your brand and marketing strategy to appeal to and engage with your target consumers? Read on to see if your...

Food marketing: How to reach different generations

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Growing Kent & Medway

5 min read

Starting a new business can be both exciting and daunting, especially when it comes to securing the necessary funds to get it off the ground. At our recent Growing Kent & Medway Business Innovation Masterclass, Paul Grant from The...

10 steps to raise £20k for your food and drink business

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Growing Kent & Medway

4 min read

Knowing how to scale-up your food and drink business can be daunting. Our MDS apprentices Harry Creak and Arunima Amar join the entrepreneurs on the Growing Kent & Medway Food Accelerator to ask industry experts for their advice. In...

Scaling-up your food and drink business

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