The BCMPA, the Association for Contract Manufacturing, Packing, Fulfilment and Logistics, is on the hunt for entrepreneurs ready to pitch their new product ideas in a Dragon’s Den style competition to win a cash prize and a consultancy that will help them take their product to market. Launching at this week’s London Packaging Week at Excel (15-16 October), Pitch the Co-Packers targets start-ups and early-stage brands in markets such as food and drink, personal care and beauty and household products.
The format of the competition is that the chosen finalists will be invited to pitch to judges at The Contract Pack and Fulfilment Show, co-located with Packaging Innovations and Empack at the NEC Birmingham on 11th – 12th February. The Dragons scrutinising each entry include IPS CEO Andrew Dawson and Mike Williams Co-Founder of Flake Bake, winner of Aldi’s Next Big Thing and Matt Hopkins founder of Indie, supporting SME brands with their product journey. The shortlist of finalists will be revealed in early January.
“Collaboration with third party manufacturers, packers and logistics providers can unlock a successful product launch and help with critical production scale-up” said Emma Verkaik, CEO of the BCMPA. “Pitch the Co-Packers will demonstrate how vital these partnerships are while also offering a platform to the next generation of innovative and entrepreneurial talent across a wide range of markets.”
Entries to the competition are invited from SMEs with a turnover of under £100,000 with exciting, scalable product concepts. They need to be on the lookout for co-packing, manufacturing or fulfilment support as well as facing packaging or production challenges.
The BCMPA stand at London Packaging Week will encourage interested parties to sign up to enter. Pitch the Co-Packers reinforces the Association’s pivotal role in supporting start-ups as they take the first steps to launching their products and also highlights the ways in which using third parties can accelerate growth for new businesses. Candidates should consider why they need a partner and what they’re looking for in a collaboration with a co-packer.
“This competition will go a long way in helping and encouraging smaller businesses to connect with critical partners,” added Verkaik. “It will also give next generation brands valuable insight from experienced third-party experts on how they can take their start-up to the next stage of development.
“Outsourcing was pivotal for visionary entrepreneur Levi Roots. Over 20 years ago he pitched his idea on Dragons’ Den and today he runs a thriving food empire. Understanding how third-party partnerships can boost your business in the same way it did for Levi.”
At London Packaging Week, the BCMPA team will be available on stand B61 and will discuss the wide range of services members provide and how to take products from concept to delivery, to the end consumer. The association represents over 200 companies with the outsourcing skills and capacity to support businesses of all sizes.