Registering for the In Person Workshop
Date: 3 July 2024
Location: The Priory Rooms, Birmingham
Time: 10.00-16.30
Places are limited at this workshop so we encourage you to register here now.
The Opportunity
Most of the beans eaten in our country are imported from North America and elsewhere. However, several new bean varieties have recently been developed that can grow in the UK. At the same time, there is a strong push for people to eat more beans, to improve both health and sustainability. There are calls to double UK bean consumption by 2028.
If bean consumption is going to increase, and UK production to meet some of the demand becomes possible, what business opportunities can you see? Who would you need to work with to take advantage of the opportunities? How will things need to change?
We are inviting business leaders and entrepreneurs in the UK food system to explore answers to these questions in a workshop. People will come from a range of businesses across the supply chain, and selected growers, consumer organisations and policymakers will also participate.
You are welcome to join us regardless of whether you have engaged with us before or are hearing about what we’re doing for the first time. The workshop takes a step beyond anything you might already have participated in.
The Benefits
If you have an interest in beans from a business perspective, this workshop will help you identify:
1. The range of opportunities emerging across the food system;
2. What barriers exist, and how they can be addressed; and
3. What partnerships you can build to exploit the opportunities.
If you are a policymaker, you will get to hear more about what businesses need from Government so that the economic, health and environmental benefits can all be realised.
Who are we?
We are researchers from BeanMeals, a collaborative food systems project led from the University of Oxford. Since June 2022, BeanMeals has been working with local and national partners to test the potential for UK-grown beans to be a catalyst for food system innovation.
The kind of research we do involves more than just looking at what business opportunities are possible – we also bring people together who, through collaboration, can bring about the food system changes that are required.
Places are limited at this workshop so we encourage you to register here now. If you are unable to attend, but someone else in your organisation can attend, please feel free to forward this event link on.
Refreshments and lunch will be provided at the workshop.
We would be happy to pay for travel costs to the workshop if this would assist you participating in the event.
We very much look forward to you participating in this workshop in the belief that it will be of value to your business as well as our research.
