Foodpreneurs Festival is a high-impact event for specialty FMCG brands, curated by the incredible Chelsea Ford and her team. The event is laser-focused on solving the biggest challenges facing brands: breaking into retail, scaling operations, and building category-defining businesses.
Upstock Workshop
Upstock co-founders Philip Fierlinger and Matt Watson were invited to run the workshop "Scale into Retail with Automation and AI" – teaching FMCG brands how to get a seat at the table with the supermarkets using AI to easily cope with the major complexities of supermarket procurement, and how brands use Upstock to expand their retail footprint.
The workshop was full and the feedback was electric.
As the audience peppered Philip and Matt with questions, the owners of Coast n Smoke happened to be in the audience – as Upstock customers with firsthand experience, they began answering the audience questions and explaining how their wholesale admin work – managing their product catalogues, pricing changes, invoicing, packing slips, pick lists, and more – is all now automated with just a few clicks in Upstock.
Brand Showcase
The heart of the Foodpreneurs event is showcasing brands. Shelves upon shelves featured amazing brands and their specialty products.
It was thrilling to see so many Upstock customers showcasing their products and pitching retailers at the event, including:
- Coast n Smoke
- Sidekick Soda
- Innerbloom
- Apostle Hot Sauce
- Secret States
- Corporal Freddies
- Sneekico
- Bippi
- Lady Alchemy
- Sodasmith
- Oats My Goodness
- Tucker Dust
- Yumake
- Bee and Flow Manuka
- Zerup
And a big welcome to a whole bunch of awesome brands who joined Upstock since the show!
- Cremorne Street Bakers
- Sorry Nonna
- SPICETUB
- Frekl Ginger Beer
- Coco Loco Hard Seltzer
- Red Gum BBQ at Home
- Nutsy Peanut Butter
- And many more launching soon!
Many of these brands secured pivotal connections with category buyers and distributors at the event – exactly what Foodpreneurs is all about.
Award Winners
A big part of Foodpreneurs Festival is showcasing and celebrating exceptional brands. There were so many amazing brands at the event, but only a few came away award winners.
🏆 Congratulations to the Biteback Award Winners:
- Launch Legend – Sorry Nonna (Grga Calic & Lachlan Philp)
- Brand Innovation – Flora Foods (Heidi Briggs)
- Brand Campaign – Six-Eyed Scorpion (Sandra Seah)
- Category Crusher – SOLBEVI (Stefan Di Benedetto)
- Critics’ Choice – Flora Foods (Heidi Briggs, again!)
- People's Choice – Umei Foods (Sarah Leung)
Investor Hub Pitches
The event didn't just connect brands with retailers, it also connected brands with investors. At the grand finale session, five brands were selected to pitch to a panel of seasoned, expert FMCG investors.
- SUP Foods
- Isaac's Snack
- GIAGO
- The Why Meat Co
- Spice Craft
All of the pitches were impressive, so it must have been a tough decision.
In the end, Theresa Dang of Sup Foods walked away with investor backing!
See you next year
Chelsea and the entire Foodpreneurs team have created something truly special. Their work is elevating producers, opening doors to major opportunities, and energising the entire FMCG community.
We can’t wait to return next year.
In the meantime, we’re still catching up with all the demand and opportunities this festival has generated!
