The Food WorksSW opens doors to food and drink businesses with Discovery Day

Thursday 5th March | 9:30 - 14:30 | Weston-super-Mare

Building on its success in 2025, food and drink innovation centre The Food WorksSW is inviting brands back through its doors for another Discovery Day on Thursday 5th March, taking place from 9.30am until 2.30pm. The event will give food and drink businesses the chance to explore the centre’s facilities, hear from industry experts, and learn about its in-house expertise, from product testing and development to technical support and scaling up for growth.

Sponsored by Bishop Fleming, the event is free to all UK-based food and drink businesses and will showcase each of its specialist bakery, dairy and drinks kitchens with talks from invited guest speakers, including Joe Thomson, Managing Director of Firebrand Brewing Co., Andy Venn, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Somerset Charcuterie, Vince Adams, Regional Chair of Society of Dairy Technology, and Aidan Watts and Ben Ayres, Co-Founders of Majic Protein, who will highlight how their business has benefited from time spent at The Food WorksSW.

In addition, Discovery Day attendees will hear from other guest speakers including Jason Nickels, Master Distiller of Salcombe Distilling Co., and Mark Moody, Marketing Director of Trewithen Dairy and Ehrmann UK, who are aligned with each specialty kitchen offering industry insight. Alongside the talks, the in-house technical experts, Zoe Plant, Rachel Goff and Beth Winters, will demonstrate the centre’s specialist equipment and provide guidance on topics ranging from product labelling to SALSA accreditation. Whether businesses are refining a recipe, navigating compliance or preparing to scale, The Food WorksSW team will also be on hand to explain how the centre supports projects from concept through to commercial reality.

A tour of the centre’s meeting rooms, conference facilities and commercial kitchen will also be available upon request, as well as one-to-one business support meetings and discussions with members of the team. The Food WorksSW’s coffee shop and business lounge will also be open throughout the day.

Since opening in 2020, the North Somerset centre has supported more than 350 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.

Salcombe Distilling Co.’s Master Distiller, Jason Nickels, says: “Taking part in the Discovery Day at The Food WorksSW is a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge, ignite new ideas and support the next generation of food and drink innovators. It also gives me the chance to share my own experiences and offer insight into the drinks industry. The Food WorksSW is a wonderful facility for the South West and I’m really looking forward to gaining a deeper understanding of how it helps businesses take those vital next steps in their growth and development.”

Simon Gregory, Director of The Food WorksSW said, “Our Discovery Day is about giving food and drink businesses a clear, practical insight into how we can support them at different stages of their journey. By structuring the day around our specialist kitchens, attendees can see how our facilities, expertise and industry connections translate into real-world outcomes. With recent upgrades and newly established equipment, as well as a new canning line coming to the drinks kitchen this year, it’s an exciting time for businesses to explore what’s possible here.”

Christian Crawford, Partner, Bishop Fleming, added “Events like the Discovery Day are vital for our region’s food and drink industry. The Food WorksSW brings together the practical expertise, facilities and technical insight that food and drink producers need as they look to develop new products, improve processes or scale up with confidence. Working closely with food and drink businesses across the sector, we see firsthand how important it is to have access to this kind of support from specialist kitchens to the on‑site technical team. It gives founders the space to experiment, solve challenges and move their ideas forward.”

As part of the Discovery Day, visitors can learn about The Food WorksSW’s partnership with The West of England Food and Drink Support Initiative (FDSI), which offers a fully funded programme to help food and drink producers, manufacturers, hospitality and food service businesses in Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire start, grow and thrive. Delivered by the centre, the scheme provides expert technical and business support, themed workshops and practical guidance to help businesses become retail-ready. Eligible businesses can apply at www.foodworks-sw.co.uk/westofengland.

Funded by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and the four West of England Councils: Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, the programme includes food safety and HACCP plans, certification advice such as SALSA, nutritional and labelling information, recipe development and product scale-up. Support also includes access to The Food WorksSW’s development kitchens, with up to two days’ kitchen hire and hands-on product development guidance from the in-house team.

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 Food WorksSW features five development kitchens with specialist equipment, 12 food grade business units, in-house technical experts, a business lounge and coffee shop that’s open to all businesses, meeting room and conference facilities and hosts multiple industry training and seminar events throughout the year. The development kitchens are available for flexible short-term contract hire for food and drink businesses of all sizes, along with the meeting room and conference facilities.

Technical support packages are also available at the centre and are designed to help businesses navigate their way through a range of food disciplines, from new product development and quality assurance hygiene to food safety and efficiency.

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