Initiative offers home-grown micro businesses fast-track onto supermarket shelves
Locally-owned supermarket Spinneys recently launched its incubator programme for micro food and beverage suppliers in the UAE.
As part of its corporate sustainability initiative ‘Let’s do better together’, the initiative aims to fast-track supermarket listings for innovative F&B businesses in a bid to support local food production and stimulate economic growth in the sector, the retailer revealed in a press communique.
Committed to making sustainable choices for the future, the incubator programme is the first of its kind for the region and is in line with the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy to grow local food production capability and shift away from dependence on imported food supplies.
Launched amidst the economic challenges caused by Covid-19, the programme aims to boost and reward innovation amongst smaller food producers and manufacturers in the emirates by lowering barriers to supermarket entry and helping to accelerate an often challenging path to shelf listing.
Through the incubator programme, micro F&B businesses will be given the chance to list their product at Spinneys for a year, with no start-up fees and generous payment terms. The main eligibility criteria is that the product needs to be produced or manufactured in the UAE and meet a clear consumer need.
“This incubator programme underscores our commitment to support made-in-the-UAE food and beverage companies in an effort to enhance the food security system, but also to help drive job creation and economic growth,” explained Tom Harvey, Commercial Manager, Spinneys.
