London’s First Food & Drink Innovation Centre

Why are we here

Surveys carried out across the UK in association with the London Development  Agency and then specifically in London by the Park Royal Partnership showed that :

• There was a real need in London for a physical support centre to give guidance and provide networking facilities for small medium enterprises (SMEs) in the food and drink industry.

• The SMEs needed support specifically in the following areas:  resource efficiency, training, investment and design, product development, labeling, certification to recognized food safety standards, food safety management implementation and marketing.

The Park Royal Partnership, now the lead organization for the Food Innovation Centre, made a bid for some funding from the EU, through European Regional Development Funds and was successful in its proposals for this centre.

The centre is part funded by a grant of £200,000 from the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and match funded by the Park Royal Partnership.  

What is Our Mission

The centre has a two - fold remit

1. To help London’s small and medium enterprise food and drink companies achieve growth through innovation and best practice; to promote and support healthy eating and sustainable local food and drink production in London.

2. To create awareness of all stakeholders’ needs in the food and drink supply chain e.g. government bodies, suppliers and customers by providing a central support network where businesses can come for help and guidance.

The FIC will promote; the ‘Mayors London Food Strategy’ and ‘Green Procurement Code’ and the three cross-cutting themes of Sustainability, Health and Equality.

What do we offer

The centre offers technical, business and marketing support to London’s food and drink production SMEs who meet the criteria

• A Food Industry Mentor with over 20 years technical experience in manufacturing and supplying into the major supermarkets. Knowledge of all levels of business from Artisan to Corporate.
• Technical support from Campden BRI - a world-class food and drink research association. Campden BRI offers associate membership to each client at no charge, giving access to legal and technical advice over the phone, free publications and website access. Plus seminars at the FIC on the latest hot topics and issues.
• A state of  the art development kitchen, meeting rooms and training suite
• A range of industry consultants, suppliers and partners to deliver one to one advice
• Clinics, briefings, industry networking events and seminars
• Training and specialist services. The latter are chargeable but may be subsidized.

Who are we for

Companies need:

• To be London based ( across 33 boroughs )
• Not to exceed 250 employees
• Not to have revenue in excess of €50m
• To have been trading for more than one year
• To be a processor, manufacturer or packer.  (Note: this includes catering/hospitality businesses)

FIC Sponsors