Accelerator Program_Growth Hub - BC Food & Beverage

Are you a founder looking to rapidly grow and sustain your brand?

The BC Food & Beverage Growth Hub Accelerator is a comprehensive, one-year professional development and business enhancement program designed to help founders navigate entrepreneurship in CPG, understand their ideal path to retail in Canada (and beyond), and unlock consumer demand with speed and confidence.

Grow your Business

Supported by the largest not-for-profit industry association in the province—and the most extensive subject matter expert roster in Western Canada—Accelerator participants will gain practical insights and strategic guidance that will help them build a stronger offering, business, and team—ensuring product-market fit and careful consideration of the needs of customers and consumers.

Program Vision

A key aim of the BC Food & Beverage Growth Hub Accelerator is to support founders on their journey to $5M because this early-stage milestone reflects sustainable, exponential growth and is the ideal foundation in order to attract investment. Our mandate is to help you scale your manufacturing, increase your revenue and become sustainably profitable.

Program Structure

This milestone-based program is flexible and hands-on, offering the time and support needed to grow within a community-centric cohort while providing direct (private) access to industry leaders, experts and resources that will help drive a brand’s success.

The 2025 Accelerator consists of two diverse cohorts, each comprised of 10 non-competing brands—that means there’s 20 spots available.

All program activities are conducted virtually and all live sessions will be recorded and available for replay. Optional in-real-life (IRL) activities may take place at a regional level.

Here’s what successful applicants can expect

Program Phases

Training & Advisory Sessions (Jan 8 –May 9): Weekly deep-dive group calls (60 min) and bi-weekly one-on-one calls (30 min).

Coaching & Action Sessions (Jun–Dec): Monthly one-on-one consulting calls (60 min) and quarterly cohort check-ins (90 min).

Review Sessions (Year 2 & Year 3): Annual one-on-one reviews (Dec) to discuss successes and challenges.

Areas of Focus

Pitching, Winning & Retaining Retail Accounts
Building & Optimizing Your Website for Consumers
Corporate Structure & Legal Agreements
Product Pricing & Margin Management
Cashflow & Financial Preparedness for Retail
Food Safety Compliance & Cost Reduction
Product Development, Co-Manufacturing & Recall Management
Omni-Channel Marketing Strategies
Strategic Planning & ESG Development
Grant Application Improvement
Recruiting & Growing a CPG Team

Additional Program Benefits

Here’s some of the extra perks of being involved in the 2025 Accelerator:

Certified BC Food & Beverage Professional designation (1 year)
Accelerator Graduation Certificate
1-year BC Food & Beverage membership (up to $600 value)
Founders-only networking events
Lifetime access to on-demand courseware
Industry referrals & downloadable resources
Promotion via BCFB’s social media channels

Program Benefits Details

APPLICATION CRITERIA AND TIMELINE

To qualify, the majority of your brands’ distribution points are in BC and you generated less than $2M in gross revenue in last year. Regional representation, balanced categories, and JEDI-relevancy (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) will also be considered.

Form submissions are due by 5pm PT on October 25, 2024.

COHORT SELECTION TIMELINE

Applicants will be notified about the status of their submission by 5pm PT on November 8, 2024.

PRICE

$3,500 value, full bursary available for all successful applicants for the 2025 program.

FACILITATORS

This advisory program is guided by retail and marketing experts Kenny Vannucci & Phil Chang (ThisCommerceLife).