Panel Talk: Scaling Up! Manufacturing

Are you a food or drink founder figuring out how to scale your production? Whether you’re just moving beyond the kitchen or considering bigger manufacturing partners, deciding how to make your product at scale can be one of the most complex - and critical - parts of building a business.

Join us for an insightful evening designed for founders, professionals, and curious minds working across the food and drink sector. This panel talk will explore the different manufacturing routes available to early-stage brands, from keeping production in-house to working with co-manufacturers and co-packers, both in the UK and internationally. You’ll hear honest experiences from founders and experts who’ve taken very different paths and learn the lessons they wish they’d known from the start.

Expect practical advice, real-world stories, and the chance to get your manufacturing questions answered.

Topics the panelists will be covering:

• The different pathways to scaling production: in-house, co-manufacturers, co-packers, and hybrid models

• The trade-offs between cost, quality, flexibility, and control

• How to find and work with the right manufacturing partners

• Lessons learned from the challenges and surprises of scaling production

About the speakers:

‍

Stu Macdonald - Founder, ManiLife

Stu founded ManiLife out of a kitchen in 2015 with just 2 kitchen blenders. Stu works directly with a family-run farm in Argentina to source their peanuts and blends only in small batches to maintain creaminess. ManiLife is currently the fastest growing peanut butter brand in the UK, having invented the first deep-roast peanut butter and winning 3 Great Taste stars for 3 products.

Chloë Stewart - Founder, nibs etc.

Chloë Stewart is a self-proclaimed food obsessed ethnic mutt. Seeds for her passion to fight food waste have been sown throughout her time spent growing up between the UK, Switzerland, China and the US. nibs etc. was born as a blog from this love of food, a thrifty approach to cooking, a determination to squeeze every last ounce of value from something, and desire to inspire upcycling in others. Food waste is the result of one of the most criminally inefficient systems in our world. But, this is a human-made problem, so there can be human-made solutions; that is Chloë’s hope, and what drives nibs etc. to tirelessly work towards designing waste out of our systems in creative and delicious ways. Chloë has a BSc from Babson College in Boston, USA, and 7+ years of Sales and Marketing experience in the Food Industry across the UK, China and the US.

Rebecca Cope - Co-Founder, Juicy Brick

Rebecca Cope is Co-Founder of Juicy Brick, a London-based F&B innovation studio that develops and scales food and drink concepts for founders, blue-chip companies, and talent-led brands. She specialises in the operational side of manufacturing, connecting great ideas with the right production partners. Rebecca works globally to source everything from small-scale facilities to large BRC-certified manufacturers, helping brands navigate supply chains, compliance, and scale-up challenges to bring products from concept to shelf.

Claire Whitfield - Head of Product, Pollen + Grace

Claire Whitfield is an experienced food industry leader with over 17 years in product development and innovation in FMCG manufacturing. Claire joined Pollen + Grace in April this year to take on a new role, leading the product development for the renowned challenger brand. Now using her extensive knowledge in manufacturing, she is focused on improving speed to market and landing targeted innovation for the brand. In previous roles at Oscar Mayer and Greencore Sandwiches, she oversaw multi-site teams delivering strategic, consumer-led innovation for leading UK retailers and brands. Claire has played a key role in the delivery of The Gym Kitchen and Cathedral City Ready Meals, driving over £100 million in new business growth and first to market food to go concepts. Passionate about creativity, collaboration, and mentoring future talent, she brings a unique blend of culinary vision, technical expertise, and commercial insight to every project.

‍

About these Panel Talks:

Join us for some lively discussion about the highs and lows of making it in the food business world.

At these talks, the UK's leading voices will be sharing their food business stories, and some of the expertise and valuable lessons they learned along the way.

This is an open session for aspiring food and drink founders where we encourage participants to get involved, ask questions and apply ideas to their own projects and businesses.

Ticket includes access to the panel talk, networking and post-panel food and drink.

Please note that this is an in-person event.

‍