Dubai: UAE-based independent, not-for-profit economic development agency, Khalifa Fund For Enterprise Development (Khalifa Fund), has partnered with F&B Manufacturers Business Group (FBMG), to unveil F&B Innovation Lab 2.0, a specialized bootcamp to support entrepreneurs in developing their F&B products.
Apart from industry leading F&B manufacturers, the initiative also has partners such as;
- Mintel – Knowledge Partner
- Tate & Lyle – Technical Partner
- Federal Youth Authority – Youth Partner
The 2nd Edition of the Initiative follows a breakthrough 1st Edition which facilitated the entry of 4 new innovative products to the UAE marketplace.
The F&B Innovation Lab 2.0 will begin in the 20th of April 2022 and is expected to conclude by the 30th of October.
The 2nd iteration of the Lab will follow the same successful format, where applicants will be enrolled into a specialized boot camp to develop their F&B products, as the first step towards validation and product-market fit.
The second stage of the program will be to enroll qualified applicants into a market research boot camp to help to identify their target market and take into consideration the needs of their discovered target audience, before going through the post-validation phase, graduation and eventual commercialization deal.
Khalifa Fund, alongside our esteemed partners, are delighted to launch the F&B Innovation Lab 2.0 as part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing the UAE’s F&B sector. In this iteration, the program will incubate the entrepreneurs with the most viable and scalable F&B concepts, rooted in sustainability, health, and convenience.
Ms. Alia Al Mazrouei, CEO – Enablement Sector & Non-Financial Services of Khalifa Fund remarked about the Initiative.
The Khalifa Fund official further added that, “The first edition of the F&B Innovation Lab was amongst our most successful initiatives to date, and I sincerely look forward to building upon our previous success. The main aim of the F&B Innovation Lab is to create the early foundations for ideation and innovation for UAE talent in the F&B sector, while actively contributing towards the further enhancement of our advanced food security levels.”
Conveying the importance of the program, Mr. Saleh Lootah, Chairman of UAE Food and Beverage Business Group, observed that, “Food sector has faced the most challenges and disruptions in recent times. Our aim is to drive innovation and new product development in the food manufacturing sector making way for more resilient food products. With F&B Innovation Lab program, we bring together food manufacturers and innovators to co-develop the next big F&B products and support the National development.”
Registrations to the F&B Innovation Lab will remain open till the 12th of July, 2022.