Whether you're developing your first food product, launching a challenger brand, or growing an established business, LSE Generate's Food and Beverage Programme is designed to help you navigate the unique opportunities and challenges of the sector.
Our mission is to provide entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs with practical support, expert insight and a community of peers who understand the realities of building a food and beverage business.
LSE students and alumni have founded more than 200 food and beverage businesses over the past decade, and the interest in the sector continues to grow. Through this programme, founders can learn from experienced entrepreneurs, build valuable connections and gain practical advice tailored to the challenges of the food and beverage industry.
Bonnie Chung interviewing Julian Metcalfe, founder of Pret and Itsu
Want to get involved?
Meet Bonnie Chung
Our Food & Beverage Programme Lead is Bonnie Chung, entrepreneur, mentor, founder and former CEO of Miso Tasty.
Bonnie's 12 years of experience building Miso Tasty into a household name, her work mentoring early-stage food entrepreneurs, and her ongoing consultancy for food brands of all sizes make her an invaluable resource for founders at every stage of their journey.
Bonnie runs our monthly drop-in Startup Agony sessions, open to F&B founders and all startups!
Startup Agony with Bonnie
Building a food business comes with unique challenges, from product development and manufacturing to retail partnerships, marketing and growth.
Our monthly Startup Agony sessions give founders the opportunity to bring their biggest challenges and receive honest, practical advice from an experienced food entrepreneur who has been there herself.
These interactive sessions are open to food and beverage founders at all stages, and provide a supportive environment where participants can learn not only from Bonnie's expertise, but also from the questions, experiences and challenges of fellow founders.
Learn from Food & Beverage Leaders
Throughout the year we bring together successful founders, industry experts and innovators for fireside chats, panel discussions, workshops and networking events.
Recent topics have included:
- Building and scaling a drinks brand
- Funding secrets for food and beverage businesses
- Getting retail ready
- E-commerce and direct-to-consumer growth
- Pop-ups, markets and community building
- Founder stories, challenges and lessons learned
Our events give founders the opportunity to learn directly from experienced entrepreneurs, ask questions and hear honest accounts of what it really takes to build a successful food and beverage business.
What founders say
"It was fantastic. Bonnie was incredibly helpful. Her direct and clear feedback is exactly what we needed at this early stage."
"It was great to listen and learn about the honest realities of growing a business. Hearing the challenges founders faced along the way gave me a much better understanding of the journey ahead."
Join a thriving community of food founders
LSE students and alumni have launched a wide range of successful food and beverage businesses, from consumer brands to innovative food ventures.
Join the Food & Beverage community
Whether you're exploring an idea, developing your first product or scaling an existing business, the Food & Beverage Programme can help you access expert advice, practical support and a community of founders who understand the journey.
Ready to get involved?