The food industry is always something I’ve felt rather passionate about. I’ve preferred to buy from smaller, more independent brands who genuinely care about the ingredients and (most importantly) the final product.
One of my dreams is to set up a small company selling frozen pastes in individual portions. Curry paste, pesto, even pasta sauces – they’re great timesavers for busy people yet all too often I can never finish a jar. Homemade is far better and I’ve been making and freezing these things for a while now – and I’d love to share. This pipeline dream is likely to take a backseat for a while as my chosen career is far too time-consuming, but who knows where the future will take it?
And if I do decide to go for it, I’ll definitely remember Cotswold Fayre and their Young Entrepreneur award. They are offering £1,000 in funding and on-going mentoring from company Founder, Paul Hargreaves to help progress the chosen business. An amazing opportunity, not just for the funding but the knowledge you would gain.
Last year’s winner, Chris Hannaway, co-founder of Overly said: “Winning this award has been great. As a business, we’ve managed to get a listing with Cotswold Fayre, the UK’s best wholesaler for farm shops and delicatessens. They really are a great team that are so helpful and supportive to new suppliers. On an individual note Paul’s advice has been great. He’s helped me to develop the way think about the industry and has given me some great ideas as to how we can take the business forward.”
Applications are open until the end of June for 16-25 year olds, so if you have a dream to get a food or drink business off the ground its worth having a go – I think if I had more time I would be applying!
Would you like to see recipes for some of the freezable sauces I make? What kind of food & drink company would you love to set up?