Eight Irish SMEs are currently guzzling business insights provided by Coca-Cola and Enterprise Ireland as part of the jointly run Thrive Project.

The project, which began its third annual instalment last June, is a six-month leadership programme geared at food companies.

The eight participants chosen for this year’s programme are:

Brogan’s Bakery
Cahill’s Farm Cheese
The White Hag
Couverture
Pow-Cow
Strong Roots
Revive Active
Walsh’s Bakehouse.

As part of the programme, the eight entrepreneurs flew to Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta for a three-day boot camp in July. During the boot camp, participants were provided with business strategy insights across a range of functions from senior executives in Coca-Cola.

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Enterprise Ireland will help the Thrive project participants develop business plans and access one-to-one coaching.

Alongside the Atlanta bootcamp, Thrive participants are provided with an innovation and strategy masterclass at Coca-Cola’s Western Europe Headquarters in London, meeting with business leaders from Innocent to hear their developmental journey prior to acquisition by Coca-Cola.

Amanda Ward, a programme manager with Enterprise Ireland’s food division, said that feedback from Thrive participants has been excellent over the last three years.

“The programme combines Coca Cola’s market and global insights with Enterprise Ireland’s expertise in business development, allowing the entrepreneurs to gain invaluable knowledge on how to go about scaling businesses and operations,” she explained.

Previous participants in the Thrive Project include Nüdest Foods, which sells Greek-style yoghurt, and healthy snack producer Wyldsson.

Photo: Niall Moloney (left), Pow-Cow; Celine Hayes, Couverture; and Michael Walsh, Walsh's Bakehouse (Pic: Julien Behan)