“Julia”, a professional chef, had a vision of delivering freshly cooked seafood along the very rural west coast of Ireland but admittedly lacked the confidence, know-how and finance to do so. Starting the programme, she had an idea of opening a ‘food truck’ which at the time (2016) was a relatively new concept. The training helped Julia navigate the various challenges of becoming an entrepreneur and took her business idea from concept stage to a viable business. “Through this programme, working with other students and listening to the fantastic business men and women - our lecturers, I have learnt the importance of conversation, sharing ideas and merging interests. I never really want this programme to end”. ‘Julia’s Lobster Truck’ is now one of the most renowned food trucks in Ireland. Utilsing her new-found confidence and business acumen, Julia has pushed herself outside her comfort zone, secured funding and has become a regular at the most popular Irish festivals. Her beautiful, recognisable turquoise truck is also nestled along the Irish west coast every weekend with a long line of regulars waiting for her gourmet seafood. Julia was inspired by the innovative peer led training approach. She found it motivating to learn from those who had overcome the various barriers and challenges and found the network of peers developed as part of the course hugely supportive as she launched her business. Julia, a true advocate of this type of training, now gives her time to mentor our current students on the programme.

One of the key learnings from developing this programme is the clear need for more collaboration between academia and industry. Contributions from food entrepreneurs and industry were invaluable when developing the programme. They provided industry insights and knowledge that we, as academics, did not have access to. This resulted in us developing a programme that was fit for purpose with the learners’ training needs at its core. Introducing peer-led training by involving food entrepreneurs in the delivery of the programme makes the training highly unique and innovative. Learner feedback has indicated this is hugely successful as food entrepreneurs are more likely to engage and learn from other food entrepreneurs. Their mentoring is inspiring to learners. It provides learners with access to a network and collaborative opportunities.
Customer discovery is also vital. Through engaging with the learners, stakeholders and graduates we have become more aware of the very specific challenges facing this sector across Europe. The current Covid19 pandemic brought further challenges and saw rural food producers suffer great loss as many lacked the knowledge and skills to take their food business online. Through feedback sessions, networking and project events we are continuously discovering our learners’ needs and listening to what they want from training. We refine and develop the programme based on what they tell us they need and not what we think they want. This type of education has created a collaborative community of like-minded people that have a shared goal of achieving a secure and fair food system.

Integrating specifically tailored and innovative entrepreneurial training into curricula is a priority for the key personnel at the Atlantic Technological University (ATU). We have recently learned that the Certificate in Food Innovation and Entrepreneurship programme will be funded for an additional three years indicating the importance and need for this type of training. The programme team are also preparing to develop the course into a full Maters programme which will be designed in collaboration with industry.
The team have recently launched an Erasmus+ funded European project that will focus on digitally upskilling entrepreneurs in the Agri-Food sector to enable them to take their business online. The project will provide learners and educators with the knowledge, skills and resources required to embrace the digital era and make it relevant to the sector. This project is a follow-on project to a suite of international projects developed by the team at ATU in the area of Agri-Food entrepreneurship. The overarching objective of all projects is to ensure the sustainability and longevity of Europe’s Agri- Food sector.
Research has always been at the forefront of my career, and I continue to publish in the areas of Agri- Food entrepreneurship. The programme team are currently analysing a range of data from various research activities associated with the programme and European projects. The team will be publishing a body of work in this area over the coming years with the aim of growing awareness of the need to sustain entrepreneurship in this sector.