Seedlab Australia projects $10m of benefits for emerging FMCG brands

Now in its fourth year, Seedlab Australia has supported hundreds of emerging businesses — from jerky to jam, body wash to brittle — helping them scale into supermarket-ready brands through free education, mentoring and real-world retail guidance.

Seedlab has now released its 2025 Impact Report, revealing over $10m in projected benefits across its four programs for participating brands across Australia and New Zealand.

The four core programs include Bootcamp, Cultivate, Nurture and Propagate, which are all provided at no cost to participants thanks to support from Woolworths. Over the past 12 months, the programs have supported more than 150 businesses. 

One Cultivate participant was Mat Garthwaite, founder of Mat’s Hot Shop — a hot sauce store with gourmet selections from small-batch makers. He revealed, “I've changed the business completely, and we just had our first profitable month in such a long time.” 

Bhuvan Dua and Melanie Salwa, co-founders of Fox Pops, added, “What sets Cultivate apart is its holistic approach, combining expert knowledge, practical experience and invaluable industry connections.”

Tomas Stefanovic, Co-Director of Mandolé Orchard, noted, “Being involved with Seedlab has matured our business minds and helped prepare us for the next step.”

The key outcomes in the 2025 report include:

• Bootcamp supported 111 potential and new suppliers, helping benchmark their retail readiness and refine brand pitches, with a self-reported combined perceived program value of nearly $2.5 million over the next year.
• Cultivate, a five-month accelerator, guided 39 Bootcamp graduates to strengthen their supply strategies, packaging, forecasting, logistics and more, with a perceived combined impact of over $2 million over the next year.
• Nurture, tailored for Cultivate graduates who become Woolworths suppliers, supported 30 businesses in onboarding and strengthening category communication, unlocking an average of $409,000 in added value per business over 12 months, when combined with Woolworths ranging. Many have also created jobs (average of 1.35 FTE roles each); launched new products, packaging formats and formulations; and picked up many industry awards.
• Propagate, a 20-week tailored program by invitation for current Woolworths suppliers, enabled 13 more established businesses to refine strategy and improve retail relationships through Seedlab mentoring, site visits and Category Manager meetings, among other targeted support and information.

For Seedlab founder and CEO Dr Hazel MacTavish-West, the results are evidence of what can happen when small businesses are empowered with real-world FMCG insights, trusted mentoring support and unique opportunities.

“Behind every metric in our report is a founder who has taken the leap: to build, to scale, to ask hard questions of themselves and their businesses, and to open themselves up to scrutiny, enabling growth. I’m particularly thrilled to see real jobs created, innovative products get shelf space, and confidence levels soar. These are the stories that show the potential of entrepreneurs when they’re properly supported with trusted advice,” MacTavish-West said.

With 55% of businesses entering the highly competitive Seedlab Bootcamp program being women-led, 24% based in New Zealand and 5% as First Nations-owned, the program continues to attract a diverse range of founders.

As Seedlab looks ahead, the focus remains on unlocking the next wave of FMCG success stories, helping brands grow smarter, more sustainably, and in a way that creates value for customers, retailers and communities alike.

To learn more about how to apply for the next program, visit seedlabaustralia.com.au.

Top image caption: The Seedlab team.