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Behind many a successful brand is an original startup story about a founder who had a groundbreaking idea and took a risk or two to 'make it happen'.

While every narrative is different, and every brand experience a one-of-a-kind journey from concept to shelf, there are some common threads.

Most startups will tell you it takes courage and conviction, a fair measure of technical and market know-how – your own or borrowed – and considerable sums of money (again, your own or borrowed) to get a new idea, however innovative, off the ground.

And then it takes true grit, resilience, unbridled passion and usually even more investment to keep the 'show on the road' ...and, for that matter, to take it down any new road too.

At the Breaking Boundaries industry event, brought to you by Food & Drink Business and PKN and taking place on 4 August in Sydney, we'll hear from home-grown brands plotting their path to export, multinationals backing accelerator programs for startups disrupting the food industry, and experts unpacking technology solutions that can offer early-mover advantages for brands seeking to enter new markets.

Among the brandowners presenting are home-grown functional beverage company MADE; Archie Rose Distilling Co., an artisan distiller with a groundbreaking business model; startup Chewsr, which has won backing from Simplot's Ignite accelerator program; social enterprise Thankyou, that has used a powerful and innovative crowdfunding campaign to take its startup brand into a new product category and across the Tasman to start a second company.

You can find more here and take advantage of the early bird offer here.

Food & Drink Business

Winemaking technology company, Bucher Vaslin, has launched its Pacific operation, to provide local resources to the Australian and New Zealand markets. The new entity will be led by industry expert, Paul Baggio, bringing decades of experience and a deep understanding of local winemaking needs.

Bega Group has allegedly joined forces with global dairy giant FrieslandCampina in its bid to acquire Fonterra Co-operative Group’s Mainland business. There are two other players in the ring for Mainland – Japanese food company Meiji Holdings Co and French dairy giant Lactalis.

Personalised food, sustainability, alternative protein sources, and the growing influence of private labels are major themes for the food and beverage sector. A recent webinar hosted by Anuga and its knowledge partner, Innova Market Insights, identified key trends currently at play and emerging.