Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship
Food Academy Programme gains new academic rigour and expanded opportunities for food producers
In a collaboration led by its Enterprise Academy, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) has joined forces with SuperValu and the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) to bring the already highly successful Food Academy programme to a new level. The TU Dublin Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship has added new food safety management elements to the Food Academy programme while the university reviewed and assessed its existing components to ensure they meet the standards required for academic accreditation.
Developed in conjunction with Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), the Food Academy programme supports food entrepreneurs and early-stage companies in reaching the standards required to have their products stocked in major national retailers like SuperValu. Successfully running for 12 years until 2024, the programme evolved into the Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship. Notable alumni include household names such as The Happy Pear and Strong Roots.
The programme helps producers develop skills in key areas including branding, marketing, finance, and food quality and safety with training sessions delivered in parallel in different regional locations to meet the needs of the individual entrepreneurs.
Evolving the Food Academy programme
In August 2024, 32 Irish food and drink producers joined the revised TU Dublin pilot programme, benefiting from expert training, authentic assessments, and university accreditation. Fees for this programme are subsidised via the Higher Education Authority’s HCI Pillar 3 Micro-Credentials Learner Fee Subsidy.
The collaboration with TU Dublin was driven by a desire to enhance the programme and it’s food safety training. “We wanted to ensure producers understood how to deliver safe products to consumers,” explains SuperValu Food Academy Programme Manager Carmel Biggane. “Partnering with TU Dublin was a major step forward.”
It's really important to us that students have a high-quality experience in TU Dublin and that our partners are also happy with the collaboration.
Carmel Biggane, SuperValu Food Academy Programme Manager
Dr. Claire Mc Bride, Head of the Enterprise Academy at TU Dublin; Ciara McClafferty, Trading Director, SuperValu; Dr. Deirdre Lillis, President of TU Dublin; Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Mr Peter Burke, TD and Tomás Hayes, Head of Local Enterprise Office, Kerry at the launch of the Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship in TU Dublin, April 2025.
Enhancing the programme through industry academic collaboration
The Food Academy continuously evolves the programme for the benefit of the producers, to help them understand how they can deliver products safely to the consumer. It is paramount for the Food Academy that it makes sure that what goes on to SuperValu shelves is as safe as it possibly can be.
Discussion between the Food Academy and the university began early in 2024. According to Biggane, “Working with Ciara Walsh, Senior Engagement Manager at the Enterprise Academy made it easy for us and demystified the academic side of programme co-design, validation and accreditation. She made it very easy for us to engage with the university, which from a retailer's perspective is very important. She made the whole process seamless.”
“Together with SuperValu, the Local Enterprise Offices and other stakeholders, we discussed how we could add value to the existing Food Academy programme, said Dr Walsh. We conducted a survey of graduates to discover other programme elements they would like to incorporated. The partners agreed that additional academic input in the area of food safety management would be beneficial and helpful to food entrepreneurs.”
While food hygiene and HACCP were part of the original programme, TU Dublin have increased the depth and breath of material covered in this area and, in turn, the learners understanding of the practical implementation of a food safety management system. This is done through lectures and workshops with TU Dublin academics with expertise in food safety; who support the food producers in building an effective HACCP plan for their new food business.
"Importantly, we're not only adding on a new module to support food producers, we're also recognising and accrediting the existing curriculum of the Food Academy programme as whole, under a 15 ECTS TU Dublin accredited 'Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship', says Walsh.” The School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology at TU Dublin was as natural fit to support the new programme and the validation process.
Rapid response, real results: delivering skills solutions
The module design, validation and accreditation was completed in a very short timeframe. The School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology was as natural fit to support the new programme. While the school has strong relationships with the food industry, engagement with SuperValu on this programme started in January 2024 and we were asked to have the Certificate programme ready to kick off in August. TU Dublin had validated the programme by early July. “We were delighted to be able to rise to the challenge, says Walsh.”
“All the heavy lifting was done by TU Dublin in ensuring that the content that we had was validated,” Biggane adds. “That happened really fast, and it was in place in time for the next set of entrants to begin the programme in August 2024.”
Carmel Biggane, Food Academy Programme Manager and Food Academy Producers at the Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship launch in TU Dublin
“The Food Academy team already has a wealth of experience in this area,” says Head of School Dr Denise O’Leary. “TU Dublin was able to build on what they were already doing successfully and to create added value for the learners in terms of certification and additional modules. The learners coming through the programme will now be TU Dublin students and on completion will receive a TU Dublin Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship.”
TU Dublin added the food safety management piece where more expertise was needed. We have that expertise within the school and we were able to leverage that and combine it with the expertise within SuperValu. Our lecturers were involved in accrediting the Food Academy elements of the programme as we need to ensure that the programme is at a level that reaches our accreditation requirements.
Dr Denise O’Leary, Head of School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, TU Dublin
She pays tribute to the work of the Enterprise Academy throughout the process. “Ciara Walsh engineered the links between the Food Academy team and the school. She managed the communications and the relationship between the two partners throughout the whole process. She acted as the bridge between the university and SuperValu. It couldn't have happened without her.”
From kitchen dreams to SuperValu shelves: A food entrepreneurial journey
The first group of students completed the programme in April 2025. Many of them will now go on to become SuperValu suppliers. Among them is Enolia Salami who has developed an easy cook version of a traditional West African dish and packaged it for the Irish market.
“You don’t realise how much work goes into starting a business, especially when you want to do it properly and you want to make sure the product is something that people receive well. I thought the Food Academy and the Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship was helpful in terms of getting me where I need it to be ready for launch in SuperValu.”
Enolia Salami, Food Entrepreneur
“There's a traditional dish called jollof rice which is very popular in West Africa,” she explains. “It's very versatile and you eat it with protein and as a side with vegetables. It can take two to three hours to make because there's so many traditional steps if you want to make it the authentic way. It's not something you can rush. With my food background, I originally studied culinary arts and I work in food product development, I asked myself why can't I use that knowledge and the skill to create a product that will help people make this dish at home with ease but still get that same authentic taste.”
Eniola had already completed a food startup programme which assisted her when she applied for the Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship. “I knew exactly what the product was and who my target market was. I had done a lot of research on that. But I didn't have a physical product or a brand. The first thing part of the programme was help to us develop our brand. The programme took us through marketing - looking at target markets, our demographic, and what kind of different marketing we can do; budgeting and finance. The modules on the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) food safety management system were very valuable. “The lecturers and guest speakers were able to talk us through those safety elements and answer questions.”
Eniola’s product, Joyof, has been on SuperValu shelves since April 2025.
Eniola believes the Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship has been instrumental in bringing her business to this stage. “You don’t realise how much work goes into starting a business, especially when you want to do it properly and you want to make sure the product is something that people receive well. I thought the Food Academy and the Certificate in Food Entrepreneurship was helpful in terms of getting me where I needed it to be ready for launch in SuperValu.”
Continuous review and programme evolution
Carmel Biggane anticipates further iterations to the programme in future. “We sit down every 18 months to review the content of the programme to make sure that it's fit for purpose. The programme it will evolve again as we move forward because we are genuinely trying to get this to suit the needs of the participants on the programme.”
TU Dublin is also looking at potential improvements and has carried out a learner experience survey to that end. “We want to know if there are other areas we can incorporate or improve.” says Walsh, “It's really important to us that students have a high-quality experience in TU Dublin and that our partners are also happy with the collaboration.”
