Coca-Cola and Enterprise Ireland have officially launched the 2018 Thrive Project - a six-month leadership programme developed to inspire and nurture the next generation of ambitious food companies to build scale and expand reach.
The Thrive Project gives eight entrepreneurial founders insights, expertise and innovative ideas from some of Coca-Cola’s global experts helping to fuel the companies’ future growth.
Experience & Expertise
The eight entrepreneurs were brought to Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta for an intensive three-day boot camp in July, where participants were given a unique insight into business strategy across a range of functions from senior executives in The Coca-Cola Company.
“Coca-Cola is one of the world’s best-loved brands and one of the most successful food and drink companies on the planet. As a leader in the industry we want to share our experience and expertise with the next group of companies who all have the opportunity to become global brands,” said Petre Sandru, Country Manager, Coca-Cola Ireland.
“I am delighted that we are in a position to partner with Enterprise Ireland to give these eight great start-up businesses a boost. The Thrive project allows us to leverage this special relationship between Ireland and Coca-Cola to help a new generation of local food and drink companies to grow.”
Development
In addition to the inputs from Coca-Cola, the participating companies will benefit from Enterprise Ireland support in the development of a robust business plan and access to one to one coaching.
“Enterprise Ireland’s strategy is to support Irish businesses to build scale and expand their reach into international markets. This is our third year working in partnership with Coca-Cola and we have received excellent feedback from the participating companies from the previous intake on how the programme encouraged them to innovate to compete and succeed in global markets,” Amanda Ward, Programme Manager, Food Division, Enterprise Ireland.
“The programme combines Coca Cola’s market and global insights with Enterprise Ireland’s expertise in business development, allowing the entrepreneurs to gain invaluable knowledge on how to go about scaling businesses and operations.”
Thrive
The companies are all founder-led and seeking to expand their business into international markets, Through participation in the programme, it is anticipated that they will acquire new skills and ideas which will help propel them to the next stage of growth and success.
“The Thrive Project for me last year was an incredible experience. The whole experience was really motivational and inspirational, providing me with tangible takeaways that I could easily apply to my small Irish business,” Roisin Hogan concluded, Thrive Project Graduate and CEO of HIRO.
The companies 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.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
