Eight Irish food companies today graduated from the Thrive Project 2018, a six-month leadership programme.
The initiative was developed by Cola-Cola and Enterprise Ireland in 2016.
The programme which was built in academic partnership with Dublin City University (DCU) was set up to ‘inspire and nurture the next generation of innovative food companies to build scale,’ the drinks giant said in a statement.
“The objectives of the Thrive Project perfectly align with this mission as it allows us to share our expertise in business development and leadership capability with these innovative Irish companies,” Orla Battersby, divisional manager, Food Division, Enterprise Ireland said.
“In addition, the vast knowledge and global experience that the Coca-Cola company shares with the entrepreneurs is hugely beneficial.”
The Graduates
The companies that are graduating from this year’s programme are Brogan’s Bakery, a range of biscuits and cakes; Cahill’s Farm Cheese who produce artisanal cheeses; The White Hag, unique craft beers; Couverture, chilled and frozen desserts for both retailers and food service businesses; Pow-Cow, high protein and low calorie Greek style frozen yogurt; Strong Roots, innovative frozen plant based products; Revive Active, all natural health supplement; and Walsh’s Bakehouse, Waterford Blaa range of bread.
Reflecting on his experience participating on the 2018 Thrive Project, Sam Dennigan, Thrive Project Graduate and CEO of Strong Roots said: “At Strong Roots we are planning to grow internationally as a brand and reach new export markets."
“The Thrive Project provided the perfect opportunity to learn from the experience of one of the most iconic global brands. This unique insight is invaluable to our company as we begin to scale our business and operations.”
Highlights of this year’s programme included an intensive three-day boot camp in Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta, where senior executives from Coca-Cola coached the eight entrepreneurs on business strategy across a range of functions.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
