Food and drink brands begin retail programme

Eight of Lancashire’s most exciting food and drink manufacturers have been chosen to take part in a Lancashire County Council backed programme to help them target contracts with national supermarkets.

Two Zero Route Into Retail is a focused scaleup programme for fast-growing Lancashire firms.

It is a collaboration between Two Zero and Wynne Business, a retail consultancy working with the likes of Tesco, Waitrose and the Co-Operative. The programme is 75 per cent funded by Lancashire County Council.

It closed for applications on April 16 and a host of Lancashire’s most exciting firms have been selected to take part. They include the likes of Chorley-based Brindle Distillery which manufactures Cuckoo Gin as well as Little Town Dairy (Longridge), Celebrate Gifts (Accrington) and CBD One (Preston).

Because of the high demand for the programme, a waiting list application has already been published on the Route Into Retail programme page for the next cohort of companies. The next programme will take place either late 2021 or early 2022.

Amin Vepari, programme manager, Two Zero said: “Through Route Into Retail, Lancashire County Council will support some of Lancashire’s most exciting new food and drink brands as they look to take their first step onto the national stage with retail contracts.

“Wynne Business is a specialist consultancy with a history of success in helping fast-growing brands improve their links with supermarkets. By working with Wynne Business, these companies will develop and grow, improving local supply chains and the scale of Lancashire’s renowned food and drink sector.”

Route Into Retail will take place over a six month period and will include a combination of workshop sessions, quality one-to-one support and focused peer learning sessions to help businesses define their sales strategy, create and hone their pitch.

There will also be advice on launching new products and the programme is aimed at helping these companies gain new contracts with national retailers.

Participating companies have also been invited to an exclusive meet the buyer event to pitch to James Hall & Co, wholesaler to SPAR retailers nationwide. The event has been organised by North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce.

Suzi Wynne, managing director, Wynne Business, said: “The Route Into Retail programme will give these companies access to focused support to help improve their links with national supermarkets at a fraction of the price.

“Among those chosen to take part are some of Lancashire’s most exciting new food and drink brands and this focused programme will help to accelerate their growth and further cement Lancashire’s strong position as a leader in the national food and drink industry.”

A full list of the companies chosen to take part in the Route Into Retail programme is below:

Hoyle Bottom Spirits; Brindle Distillery (Cuckoo Gin); Jack Wright (Fleetwood); CBD One; Celebrate Gifts; Little Town Dairy; Brades Farm Dairy Ltd (Lune Valley Dairy); Crankshaft Brewery.