Interested in starting your own food business?

Or want to learn how to use social media to get your side hustle seen?

Discover how you can ‘Build an Authentic Food and Beverage Brand on a Budget’. Learn how to use low-cost digital tools and get real-world marketing skills to get your brand and story noticed with Brand Designer Jo ChunYan.

The keynote presentation will be followed by a Q & A panel interview moderated by Lou Zarro Program Lead of FoodINC a food start-up Initiative led by Melbourne Innovation Centre in partnership with Melbourne Polytechnic and Melbourne’s North Food Group.

Among the panellists are Jo ChunYan, the founder of Jo ChunYan Design Studio and Digital Solutions Mentor; Nikki Blanch, People & Culture Manager and Co-Founder of Social Enterprise Meals with Impact (MWI); and Brian Nasr, the founder of The Healthy Food Crew.

Get answers to your burning questions!

Enjoy a relaxed evening of networking with fellow entrepreneurs, followed by a tour of the FoodINC kitchen.

Tickets are $15 and include canapés and refreshments.

Book your tickets below.

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The keynote presentation is by Jo ChunYan

Founder of Jo ChunYan design studio

Jo ChunYan is a brand designer, coach, and owner of her design studio, Jo ChunYan. Jo specialises in rebranding businesses to help them strategically launch, scale and grow. Her design studio's special sauce is in creating striking, intelligent visual design solutions for brands across wellness, lifestyle, food and FMCG industries, both locally and globally. Jo brings with her a background in new product development, packaging design, rebrands and brand marketing.

The Q & A panel is moderated by Lou Zarro

Program Lead - FoodINC - Food Incubator + Network Centre - Melbourne Innovation Centre

FoodINC

FoodINC is an initiative led by Melbourne Innovation Centre in partnership with Melbourne Polytechnic and Melbourne’s North Food Group.

A new incubator specifically for food businesses, FoodINC launched in May 2022 at Melbourne Polytechnic's Preston campus, offering commercial kitchens, training and support for start-ups.

From getting specific support to meet regulatory requirements right through to having the tools that can fast-track a food business’s idea to realisation, FoodINC is both a commercial kitchen “maker” space and a service centre for food entrepreneurs to flourish.

Q & A panel speakers are:

Jo ChunYan

Founder of Jo ChunYan design studio

Nikki Blanch

People & Culture Manager and Co-Founder of Social Enterprise Meals with Impact (MWI)

Nikki Blanch is the People & Culture Manager, and the Co-founder at Meals with Impact, a work-integrated social enterprise.

She is a seasoned community development specialist who has worked extensively with CALD communities in the Inner North West of Melbourne, and she has a big passion for connecting people through creative, co-designed projects that have community well-being at the heart of design and delivery.

For 12 months during the pandemic, Nikki worked with Moonee Valley City Council as an Employment & Entrepreneurship Officer with the Mamma's Kitchen program. It was building the framework for this program that inspired the development of Meals with Impact, which she co-founded in October 2021.

Prior to this role, she was a Community Development Project Officer with North Melbourne Language & Learning, where she delivered employment pathway programs such as the Connected Cultures, Empowered Communities program; numerous community events like the 'Living Traditions' Festival; and the social cohesion project 'Stories without Borders', to name just a few.

She also has significant experience working as a Community Mental Health Practitioner with Mind Australia in the Sprout Program, where she developed and delivered several day programs that facilitated deep engagement, skills development, and recovery for people working with a diversity of mental health challenges.

Meals with Impact represents the coming together of all this experience and is a real passion project that inspires her every day.

Brian Nasr

Founder of The Healthy Food Crew

Working with food start-ups from the early stages of their journey to cracking into Coles and Woolworths. The Healthy Food Crew can help businesses make & pack products or help with small orders to get your food business started. Brian will work on your business like it was his own.

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Event Details:

Date:

Wednesday the 22nd of February 2023

Event Timings:

5:30 pm: Doors open- Networking, canapés and refreshments

6:00 pm: Event commences

6:10 pm to 6:35 pm: Keynote speaker with Jo ChanYan

10 min break

6:45 pm to 7:10 pm: Panel discussion Q & A

7:15 pm: FoodINC kitchen tour

7:30 pm: Event concludes

Venue:

St Georges Restaurant 77 St Georges Rd, Preston VIC 3072 (Part of Melbourne Polytechnic)

Tickets:

$15 includes canapés and refreshments

It is important to note that tickets cannot be purchased at the door.

Ticket sales for this catered event will end on Monday, 20th of February at 12 noon or once we reach capacity. To avoid disappointment, please book your tickets early.

Please advise on any dietary requirements.