Leaders in Canadian food and beverage product entrepreneurship

Courses & Programs
Our courses and services are designed for food and beverage entrepreneurs looking to start or build their businesses and to learn more about food industry! All of our programs include 1-1 mentorship with executives and business owners in the food industry as well as access to a community of other food/beverage entrepreneurs in your shoes!
Restaurant Recovery - Pivot to CPG
Have a recipe idea you want to commercialize and bring to market? This course is 6 hrs in total, spread over 2 days.12-Week Food Venture Bootcamp
This program is for new food and beverage entrepreneurs looking to develop a consumer packaged goodRestaurant Recovery - CPG & Tourism
Looking for solutions for restaurant/food industry recovery within your city? This program is a 5-day snapshot for restaurant-owners wanting to turn a recipe into a consumer packaged good to grow sales lost from in-house diners. This program also provides a focus on promoting local and generating business for local economies.FREE Founding & Funding your Food Business
An overview of idea feasibility, food & beverage business start up costs, current food trends & more. This course will help you understand what it takes to run a consumer packaged good food & beverage business I am a Registered Dietitian, passionate about entrepreneurship. I founded The Dietitian Project in March 2020 with the aim of supporting dietitians and dietetic students with the tools to level-up their skills and reach ultimate career satisfaction. With this, I provide businessAbout Us
The Food Venture Program (FVP) is a collaboration of senior business mentors, food industry executives, chefs, product developers and dietitians in the food industry.
Designed by Sima Gandhi and Kiran Bains, FVP offers educational programming based on design thinking with experiential workshops for food & beverage entrepreneurs across North America.
Sima is owner of InnovatorLab.ca, previous manager for entrepreneurship programs at MaRS Discovery District (MaRSDD.com), workshop facilitator at Food Starter Toronto, 2018 EIR for the Toronto Public Library and founder of riince.com.
Kiran Bains, MSc, RD is a registered dietitian and owner of edovivo.com, a food industry consultancy and food and nutrition marketing agency. Kiran is also co-founder of the Upcycle Kitchen - a not for profit consumer packaged goods company in Guelph, that focuses on food system sustainability.

Our Team
SIMA GANDHI
Founder/Facilitator of FVP
Owner of Innovator Lab
Experiential Ed Designer & Facilitator.Founder -
Founder -
Food Business ConsultantFavorite thing about working in food industry:
"Love the people in the food innovation ecosystem!"
Something you couldn't live without:
"Dark chocolate with almonds!"
KIRAN BAINS, MSc, RD
Founder/Facilitator of FVP
Registered Dietitian
Owner of edovivo.com
Sustainability Researcher for IPES-Food
Favorite thing about working in food industry:
"Every day is so different when you're a food product consultant. It keeps life interesting!"
Something you couldn't live without:
"Salted butter and high-fat dairy products!"
DEREK VELLA, Chef
Director and Instructor at Guelph Food Innovation Centre
Product Developer/Consultant
Favorite thing about working in food industry:
"I get to be creative, technical and academic all at the same time - in a field that I still love to learn about everyday."
Something you couldn't live without:
"Chilies - fresh, dried, smoked, fermented"
HELEN LANGFORD
President of Groupex Canada
Founder and co-owner of HSL Consulting: Consulting services to the food, food service and retail segments
20+ yrs in food service industry
Favorite thing about working in food industry:
"Leading people and business is my passion... I love the industry because it is so fast paced, changes all the time and I love nothing more than the preparation of a great meal shared with family and friends."
Something you couldn't live without:
"My perfectly brewed cup of coffee that I make in my French Press I have had for, well, a long time."
WINNIE CHIU
Project Manager, Innovation at EarthFresh Foods
25 years experienced Food Scientist specializing in product development and applied research to commercialization.
Favorite thing about working in food industry:
"The diversity and variety of products."
Something you couldn't live without:
"Citrus fruit!"
KAREN CARDONA
Director of Operations at
Nuts for Cheese
Previously:
Product Developer at Kraft HeinzR&D Manager at Bromatechnologies
Product Development Specialist at Nestle
Favorite thing about working in food industry:
"I love visiting food production plants and learning about the different processes used to automate production."
Something you couldn't live without:
"Apple cider vinegar and citrus juice - basically anything that provides acidity to a dish."
DON BOURNE
Client Service Advisor, Mentor
Henry Bernick Entrepreneurship Centre, Georgian College
Founder, Bourne Principles, Entrepreneurship Consulting.
Favorite thing about working in food industry:
"Passionate about helping entrepreneurs start, build and grow profitable companies.."
Something you couldn't live without:
"Small batch beef jerky"
BRIAN MARCH
Sales Director, Ontario & Western Canada, Food & Beverage Division, Sani Marc Inc.
21 Years Food Industry experience
Favorite thing about working in food industry:
"Ever-changing, never boring, always challenging and intriguing, the food industry offers many most fulfilling careers."
Something you couldn't live without:
"Quiet morning coffee time"
IAN FERGUSON, MBA
Sales Manager of Central and Western Region for Balcan Plastics
Juror for the SIAL Canada Food Innovation Competition
Co-chair of the PAC Packaging Consortium's Food Waste Leadership Council.
Favorite thing about working in food industry:
"Tasting great food!"
Something you couldn't live without:
"Oysters!"
AMANDA KLARER
Director of Food Systems Resilience
Value Chain Enrichment Consultant
10+ years of experience in urban & rural global agri-food value chains
Favorite thing about working in the food industry:
“Everyone eats. Food connects us all. We all have something to learn.”
Something you couldn’t live without:
“Farmers”
Perri R. Owner of Dairy Belles
The Food Venture Program really helped me establish a clear direction for launching my food business... I had spent a significant investment of my savings trying to launch my business venture, and if I had taken this course (12-week Food Venture Bootcamp) earlier I'm positive it would have saved me time, money, and the stress of not knowing!
I advise anyone who is interested in starting up a food business to take this course first because by the end you will be ready to pitch your food product to potential buyers with confidence.
www.dairybelles.com

Laura Lukasik
Manager, Tourism & Special Events
It was an absolute pleasure to work with Sima and Kiran on a program designed for foodpreneurs wanting to take their products to market.
These amazing women brought relevant content to the program along with their own expertise and ensured the syllabus was organized and flowed smoothly.
Sima and Kiran kept us, as staff, up-to-date with the progress of the program and shared session notes and participant feedback. I am happy to recommend Sima and Kiran from the Food Venture Program if you are looking for intelligent and well organized food experts to deliver programming.

Jeff D. Owner of Island Son Canada
Kiran and Sima combined to knock this program out of the park! I learned a lot in a very short amount of time and made some great connections too!"
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Testimonials
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Sima Gandhi
Kiran Bains