Maxol hosts inaugural Homegrown at Maxol alumni gathering
Maxol hosted its first Homegrown alumni event, uniting past winners for insight, collaboration, and industry learning
Print9 December 2025
Featuring the nine winners from its Homegrown at Maxol programme (2023 and 2024) The Maxol Group hosted its inaugural Homegrown alumni gathering for a day of collaboration, insight and industry-led learning.
The event, held at Airfield Estate in Dundrum, brought together the previous Homegrown at Maxol winners, including All About Kombucha (Galway), All Real Nutrition (Kerry), Blanco Niño (Tipperary), fiid (Dublin), Parachute (Mullingar), The Foods of Athenry (Galway), The White Hag Brewing Company (Sligo), Good 4 U (Sligo),and Jo’s Absolute Nutrition (Dublin). Aunty Nellie’s (Cork), also a past winner, was unable to attend but continues to be an important part of the Homegrown at Maxol alumni community.
The event celebrated their achievements while providing expert guidance to support the next phase of their growth.
Discussion groups
The morning began with facilitated discussion groups, where producers shared experiences, challenges and ambitions across areas such as scaling, marketing, finance and entering new retail channels.
Guests participated in panel discussions led by retail and consumer insight specialist, Owen McFeely, with expert panellists from Dunnes Stores, BWG, InterTrade Ireland, Bewley’s and Maxol.
The discussions focused on key topics including navigating listings, understanding buyer expectations, scaling up, marketing strategies, and sharing success stories and lessons learned.
Opening the event, Brian Donaldson, CEO of The Maxol Group, reflected on the strength of the Homegrown at Maxol community: “Homegrown at Maxol was created to give emerging Irish producers a real platform for growth.
“Our alumni represent some of the most exciting and ambitious food and drink brands in the country and today was about bringing them together to share knowledge, learn from industry leaders, and support one another as they continue to scale.
“The insights shared throughout the day will also play an important role in shaping how the Homegrown at Maxol programme continues to evolve to meet the needs of producers in the years ahead.”
The gathering also offered networking opportunities and an alumni product showcase and ended with a lunch which encouraged conversation and collaboration across producers, retailers, mentors and partners.
Now entering its third year, Homegrown at Maxol has become a launchpad for innovative Irish food and drink brands, offering winners free distribution, marketing and PR support, mentorship and national visibility across Maxol-owned stores in ROI.
Applications for the 2026 programme are open now at maxol.ie/homegrown.
Read more: Maxol reveals Excellence Award winners for 2025
© 2025, ShelfLife by Ryan Brennan
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