Pitching Food

British Food Pioneers to pitch to Sainsbury’s

British food start-ups have a tasty opportunity to pitch their innovative products to Sainsbury’s this summer through their new PitchUp with Sainsbury’s initiative. The overarching initiative, StartUp Britain enables the growing number of small British companies a direct route to retailers and will continue the supermarket’s commitment to offering food products from small suppliers on shelves

The competition is part of a wider initiative to help start-ups find routes to market. The campaign’s retail arm PopUp Britain has already helped start-ups and micro business find a co-working space via empty shops.

Online applications open today, 5 June and close at midnight on 7 July. The online process will call on businesses to say why their product should be on supermarket shelves, demonstrating innovation and scalable potential. The most promising ideas will be invited to pitch their products in August to representatives from StartUp Britain and Sainsbury’s, at Sainsbury’s food centre in central London.

StartUp Britain co-founder Emma Jones said: 

We’re seeing record numbers of people starting new food businesses with some deliciously creative ideas. Getting their products on supermarket shelves is a really important step in helping smaller producers to achieve sustainable growth. This competition gives the start-ups a real chance to find out how they can take their brand to the next level. This kind of initiative is essential for allowing leading retailers to harness the creativity of the next generation of food entrepreneurs – and we’re delighted to have Sainsbury’s on board.

Sainsbury’s Group Commercial Director Mike Coupe added: 

We’re proud to have such an important role in this great initiative and look forward to reviewing the ideas. Over the years we’ve offered a starting platform for a number of small producers that have grown their brand nationally – including Reggae Reggae Sauce.

"British food and drink is really important to our customers and this initiative mirrors our ambitious target to double the amount of British food we sell by year 2020. We anticipate products from this campaign will play a part in this journey.

StartUp Britain