Fostering business capability and community are the focus of Waikato Food Inc’s recently launched Producers Collective.
Waikato Food Inc, comprised of a network of hospitality and food businesses, has set up the collective to help new and existing food producers thrive.
The hope is that the collective, which was launched in October, will allow businesses to pool their resources in a competitive marketplace.
“Waikato is home to an array of food producers, growers and manufacturers who face the danger of operating in isolation. It’s tough starting a business alone without shared resources to fast track growth. This is an opportunity to gain insight through sharing knowledge and experiences,” says spokesperson Esther Burnett.
Hannah O’Brien from Hunt and Gather Honey and Jan Dolan from Bellefield Butter, also members of Waikato Food Inc, spearheaded the idea. Both know the extensive time, energy and passion required to start and grow a business. The idea came about as a solution to shared issues arising in their networks.
“Businesses all essentially go through the same things at different times. We all have a lot in common but don’t have a forum to talk through issues with each other. The Producers Collective offers a place where people can come together, get help and support and build a really strong community,” says O’Brien.
“At every level in our business there’s been times we could have really used people’s advice on things as simple as pricing and packaging, retail tips, filing tax returns or how to get into supermarkets. We’ve done it all by ourselves, it would have been easier to have had a network to know these things.”
The collective will host events throughout 2020 including workshops, guest speakers and social get-togethers.
