Grow National: Ripe & Ready - Reducing Costs in Food & Beverage Manufacturing

Join us for an insightful in-person workshop that explores essential business practices, with a focus on cost reduction — one of the key drivers for maintaining margins and competitive positioning. While cost reduction may seem straightforward, it often unlocks opportunities for innovation. 

The webinar will look at cost reduction approaches related to the receival and assembly of materials for food and beverage manufacturing, while also highlighting how these principles can be applied to staffing, energy, transport, and more. It will provide a broad overview of effective cost reduction approaches, emphasising the importance of maintaining regulatory compliance, safety, and managing broader business risk.

Key takeaways include:

1. Explore various cost reduction approaches in production and operations of a food and beverage business.
2. Look at aligning cost reduction approaches to businesses value proposition, its risk appetite, its brand position and product quality.

The workshop is designed to be practical and hands-on. You will have the opportunity to tailor discussions to your own business and receive specific guidance based on your situation.

How you'll learn
You’ll complete a 6-hour in-person workshop designed to be practical and hands-on. 

The workshop:

• Includes real-world and sector relevant case studies 
• Offers the opportunity to explore questions and challenges specific to your business
• Helps you leave with a tailored list of cost reduction activities

About your presenter
Dr Barry McGookin has more than 35 years’ experience in the food manufacturing sector. He has worked with food and beverage companies of all sizes, taking them from launch to scale up, and managing the cost base for their products and services. In the last 10 years, he has assisted 200+ companies across the food system with projects totalling more than $35M, delivering a combined market impact of >$100M in revenue, with >500 new jobs. This included alternative flour processing, improved efficiency to reduce waste in vegetable processing, value adding for waste fruit, IOT installation for seafood production, and delivery of programs to build cost reduction skills in several Victorian LGAs. Barry’s consulting company, Samvinna, builds food and beverage manufacturers’ skills in improving operational efficiency and innovation.

Cost of workshop
A nominal fee to cover catering (tea/coffee, morning tea and lunch)

PREWORK:
To get the most value from this workshop, please bring detailed information about your business’s operating costs.  Operating costs refer to the day-to-day expenses involved in running your business. These include:

• Direct costs of goods sold (COGS)
• Operating expenses, often grouped under selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses (such as rent, payroll, and overhead)
• Raw materials and maintenance costs

Please note that operating costs do not include non-operating expenses, such as interest payments, investment losses, or foreign currency adjustments

Welcome to our Food & Agribusiness Network event! We're delighted to capture and share the moments that reflect the spirit of our community. Your presence may feature on our digital platforms as we celebrate this shared experience. If you'd prefer not to be photographed or filmed, please let a FAN team member know. Our goal is to ensure a positive experience for all!