Mentoring

Advice and guidance from experienced industry specialists to help your business grow.

Mentoring

Our mentoring programme offers free support to help make your aspirations a reality. We offer up to 12 hours of free one-on-one mentoring support and group peer networking sessions.

The inclusive programme is open to anyone looking to grow their food business, whether you just have an idea to launch or are already leading a successful business.

We match you with industry specialists who can help you with a wide range of areas, from getting started, understanding your market, through to supply chain development, and finance or legal issues.

Our mentoring programme is led the Kent Business School at the University of Kent.

Making an Impact

67

industry specialist mentors.

143

entrepreneurs supported through mentoring.

906

hours of support delivered.

41

new products delivered to market.

Case Studies

Discover how mentoring complimented our technical, grant, and business support for these plant-based food entrepreneurs.

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

Discover how our mentors have inspired confidence while also providing practical guidance.

fresh-purslane-edible-weeds-2025-03-07-16-55-09-utc.jpg

"From helping me shape my ideas to offering feedback and encouragement, the level of care and expertise has exceeded my expectations. This mentorship has been instrumental in building my confidence and belief in my ability to succeed."

Winifred Ayeni, Root Mylk

Growing Kent & Medway

5 min read

When embarking on your first business venture, the many decisions you need to make can feel daunting and overwhelming. Working with an experienced mentor can help to guide and navigate you through those hurdles. We caught up with...

Mentoring Matches: Building confidence to take risks

Growing Kent & Medway

4 min read

As the food and drink market becomes more competitive, mentoring represents a valuable opportunity to tap into a world of experience and get a guiding hand. For the third of our "Mentoring Matches", we meet Petra Ojukwu, founder of...

Mentoring Matches: how to focus on the things that matter to you

Growing Kent & Medway

3 min read

Aleta Viljoen originally started her business, Pretty Pink Potato, when she found there was no vegan substitute for her favourite treat – pavlova. She now creates Veringue®, plant-based meringues, and is taking part in our mentoring...

Mentoring Matches: Seeing the wood for the trees

Our Mentors

Thank you to all our mentors who have shared their time and expertise throughout the programme.