March 2024 Newsletter

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March 2024 Newsletter Latest News It’s been a busy few months here at The Food Works SW. We’ve attended trade shows and had a successful series of events which you can read about below, with more coming up! Our discovery day was also a huge success welcoming dozens of new faces through the doors to explore our services and facilities. On the team we have welcomed Drew, our hospitality and facilities support who will be assisting Matt front of house as Becky will be going on maternity leave early April. Our development kitchens have also seen lots of activity with new businesses using them, read more below. What’s been happening? Our event programme started with a photography workshop ran by the fantastic Anna Lachlan. Anna taught the workshop how to tell their brand story, how to think about lighting and colours in your photoshoots and they even got a headshot included too. “The event was very informative and a much needed opportunity” Following this event we hosted our Meet The Buyer event with TOUT’s and Tetra Pak 1-1 drop in clinic. Both events were a big success, TOUT’s gave us valuable insight into what stands out on shelves, how to approach buyers and what they look for in a product e.g. scaling up ability, label compliance and profit margins. Above are images of our Discovery Day which took place on 22nd February. Businesses had the opportunity to hear from industry specific experts, listen to business success stories that have benefited from our facilities and then tour and try some of our equipment in our development kitchens. The day was a great success giving enthusiastic businesses the chance to meet, network and explore their options to help grow their business. A big thank you to RAW PR, Sharpham Dairy, Luscombe Drinks, Cakesmiths, Kinda Co, Butcombe and Drinks Kitchen Ltd for making the day such a success. We also attended the Source Trade Show in Exeter in February - one of the biggest trade shows with over 100 trade stands. The team were offering advice and talking to customers about the services and facilities on offer here. Trade shows are such a great opportunity for you to meet and network with like minded businesses. Events Browse our events schedule below and click on the links to get your tickets Book here Book here Development Kitchens Our development kitchens have seen some new usage as well as some of our more regular users. Butcombe have been in for the last few weeks developing their Spring/Summer menu and pictured to the right, a new user Microencapsulation Services have been creating flavoured candy floss. Their technology encapsulates the flavour until the sugar is cooked creating fresh, long lasting flavour. We got to try flavours such as Banana, Strawberry, Peppermint, Aniseed and Ginger! “We would like to thank you and your team for your time and assistance last week. The great facilities at Food Works certainly helped make our first production and packing run a great success.” The kitchens are so versatile and with the different sizes and equipment available, your requirements will be met! To arrange a tour of the kitchens or to find out more, click here. Other News New associate member Introducing our new associate member, Novecom and their drop in sessions on site here starting this Wednesday. With over 20 years of experience working with some of the UK's 5.5 million small businesses, the team at Novecom is bringing their considerable expertise to the food and drink sector. Working with Forum members, and others across the industry, they are developing flexible and practical digital solutions to help streamline food and drink operational efficiency. Join Archie Marshall for a free 30-minute consultation to find out how Novecom could work with you to create a streamlined solution that helps drive back-office efficiency. Either join Archie in person at the Food Works SW, or online via Teams meeting. Funding available now Don’t miss an opportunity to apply for up to £250k from Innovate UK to work alongside a research organisation to support the design and development of innovative food products to support sustained health and wellbeing. The competition is open until 8th May! Apply Here Copyright (C) *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*. All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|**|LIST:DESCRIPTION|**|END:IF|* Our mailing address is: *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|**|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|**|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe