Veg-net – a one-day event dedicated to helping businesses within the plant-based category forge connections and grow their brands – is taking place on 5 June 2024 at the Radisson Blu Stansted Airport in London, UK. The Plant Base spoke with its founder, Mike Hill, to discuss the event’s networking focus and where the new opportunities are for small, vegan-owned start-ups.

What led to Veg-net’s establishment?

I have been active in the plant-based food and drink sector for the last six years. This includes my role as co-founder and director of vegan pizza brand One Planet Pizza, while at the same time I also run another business that has been organising B2B networking events in other sectors for many years.

We wanted to take the successful model that we have been running in health and fitness, and see if it can work in plant-based. But also, I know from experience how much time and effort it takes to make contact with and talk to buyers, and how expensive it can be to take stands at traditional exhibitions. I wanted to try to make this whole process much easier for small- to medium-sized brands, just like One Planet Pizza.

How does Veg-net differentiate itself from other plant-based food and beverage industry events?

The key difference is that the day is focused around 10-12 15-minute meetings, which are selected in advance by both brands and buyers. We have developed special software to arrange this, producing the optimum meeting schedules. Think of it as speed dating for businesses! Yes, we have some educational discussions and panels, but the key focus is the one one-on-one meetings. Everyone is together for the whole day, so there are many opportunities for informal networking and making relationships over food and drink.

Can you tell us a bit about some of the presentations and discussions set to take place at this year’s event?

We have teamed up with Indy Kaur at Plant Futures and Vypr – the consumer insight panel – to commission specific research around the current state of the plant-based food and drink sector in the UK. What are the current challenges, and how are buyers and brands best able to overcome them? We will have representatives from leading sector organisations such as Pro-veg International, The Vegan Society and the Plant Based Alliance attending to discuss this.

What kinds of industry experts will be in attendance?

We are fortunate to have some amazing industry experts also attending. They are sector leaders in areas such as marketing, branding, finance, investment and production. We even have someone attending from the government Business and Trade department, who can advise on building exports.

What benefits can different plant-based food and beverage industry professionals gain from the platform offered by Veg-net?

Most of all, a truly valuable day spent networking and building relationships. Of course, every brand wants listings, but it takes time to build the connections and understanding that you need to achieve and retain successful listings. A day like Veg-net is the perfect place to do this!

What advice would you give to start-ups in this sector who are looking to make valuable business contacts and grow within the industry?

Build the profile and brand of both your business and yourself, steadily over time. Use social media, but also look to attend as many industry events in person as possible. It’s incredible how one contact leads to another, and business generally follows.

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