Ready to Grow Beyond Ireland
The Food & Drink Get Exporting Programme helps ambitious food & drink companies in Dublin generate more leads, sales, and revenue through structured export training, expert mentoring, and direct access to international buyers.
2+
Years Trading
€100,000
Minimum Turnover
Open to All LEO Food
& Drink Clients
10+
Countries
Overview
The Food & Drink Get Exporting Programme is tailored for SMEs that are already trading successfully and have the resources and ambition to scale into international markets. It takes participants on a structured, market-led journey — from assessing export readiness and carrying out market research, to developing Export Development Plans and securing their first international leads.
Through a mix of workshops, one-to-one mentoring, and access to qualified leads, the programme builds the skills and strategies needed for exporting while addressing challenges such as compliance, logistics, pricing, and distribution. Participants are also connected to state supports and funding. Ultimately, the programme enables businesses to diversify beyond the domestic market and strengthen their competitiveness through export-led growth.
Programme Objectives
Export Readiness
Assess export readiness, market potential,
and capability gaps using structured
diagnostics.
Market Research
Teach effective market research techniques, including competitor mapping, pricing, distribution, and compliance.
Growth Planning
Develop tailored Export Development Plans with route-to-market strategy, sales, marketing, and projections.
Funding Guidance
Provide guidance on funding options and state supports. Strengthen sales, digital marketing, and lead generation skills.
Sales Boost
Deliver 10–15 qualified leads per participant during one-to-one mentoring.
Export Growth
Teach effective market research techniques, including competitor mapping, pricing, distribution, and compliance.
Programme Format
3 interactive half-day workshops covering export readiness, market research & strategy, sales development, funding, and lead generation best practices.
3 individual mentoring sessions (3 hours each), tailored to company sector and target markets. Includes personalised lead delivery and finalisation of the Export Development Plan.
Practical resources after each workshop: readiness checklists, market research guides, templates, and funding reference materials.
Follow-up touchpoint 2–3 weeks post-programme to review progress and agree next steps
In order to qualify for the LEO Market Explorer Grant, companies must
- Have completed Export Accelerator or
- Similar LEO Exporter Programme or
- Have developed an internationalisation plan
The amount of the grant is to a maximum of €10,000 or 50% of eligible costs
Workshop
Business & Initial Market Mapping
Purpose
To provide participants with a clear assessment of their internal capacity to export and to guide them in identifying the key information needed to understand their international market environment. This stage focuses on mapping competitors, distribution channels, and other relevant market players, as well as the characteristics and requirements of the market, without yet moving into in-depth strategic analysis.
Content
- Internal company diagnostic across six core business pillars: Business Strategy, People & Management, Sales & Marketing, Operations, Innovation, and Finance.
- Identification of potential markets and review of any previous export activity.
- Initial evaluation of product suitability for export (quality, compliance, value proposition).
- Competitor and distribution mapping, pricing, market size estimates, regulations and certifications Interactive Elements.
- Guided self-assessment checklist for evaluating internal export readiness.
- Practical exercise: identifying three key competitors and collecting basic data (price, range, location).
- Group discussion of findings and initial challenges.
Resource Planning, Business Development, Funding Options & Market Contact Strategy
Purpose
To prepare companies for the execution phase of their export plan with resource planning, funding, and sales capability.
Content
- Resource planning: staffing, capacity, logistics, compliance.
- Financial planning: budgeting, forecasting, risk management.
- Overview of export grants, loans, supports with eligibility/timing.
- Sales skills: digital marketing, content, e-commerce, value propositions, B2B/B2C approaches.
- Structuring Export Development Plans and first contact strategies.
- Role-play for sales pitches and buyer meetings. Interactive Elements.
- Role-play exercises to practice sales presentations and buyer meetings.
- Group exercise to define key messages and priority communication channels.
Please note this is for businesses located within the DUBLIN AREA ONLY
At the information seminar, the Yvonne Scully & Associates team will tell you more about how the Programme works and answer any questions that you may have.
Meet Our Presenters
Yvonne Scully
Lead Consultant
Yvonne Scully is a Business Consultant and Food Entrepreneur based in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. With a background in Finance and Investment Banking, she supports high-potential food and drink start-ups and SMEs, specialising in export development and internationalisation.
She has delivered Export Development Plans, international strategies, and trade missions across Ireland and Northern Ireland, linking producers with global retail and foodservice buyers. As a member of Enterprise Ireland’s Strategic Consultancy and Mentoring Panels, she has helped over 40 companies scale, secure funding, and enter new markets.
Yvonne also works with InterTradeIreland and Local Enterprise Offices, delivering cross-border export programmes and workshops. As founder of Bia Kid Ltd an Enterprise Ireland HPSU. she brings valuable first-hand entrepreneurial experience.
Her expertise covers export strategy, sales and marketing, investor readiness, and financial forecasting. Passionate about international growth, Yvonne helps food businesses scale with confidence and impact.
Alison Cummins is a Business Consultant, Food Entrepreneur, and Process Engineer with deep expertise in food innovation, export growth, and strategic business development. She holds a B.Eng. (Hons) in Process Engineering, a BSc (Hons) in Food Science and Technology, and an MSc (Hons) in Food Business and Technology.
Alison built and scaled her own globally exporting food business as a High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) client of Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia. She now supports companies across the food and manufacturing sectors to improve performance, implement systems, achieve regulatory compliance, and access new markets.
With a client base ranging from local SMEs to multinational foodservice companies, Alison has equipped factories to world-class standards and helped numerous businesses scale, export, and innovate. She is a trusted advisor to Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland, and Local Enterprise Offices nationwide.
Alison also lectures on TU Dublin’s Food Business MSc (Level 9) and delivers advanced training with the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence (AMTCE). Passionate about innovation-led growth, she brings a strong results focus and proven commercial insight to every client engagement.
Alison Cummins
Lead Consultant
Our Customer Feedback
Don’t take our word for it. Trust our customers.
Dervla Arthurs
CEO Snugabugz
Working with Alison Cummins on developing the Snugabugz export plan was an invaluable experience. She is extremely knowledgeable and brought a wealth of insight to the process. Having run her own business, Alison really understands the challenges small businesses face and this made her guidance both practical and relevant. She provided a clear, concise and actionable export plan that has given us real direction and confidence moving forward. I would highly recommend Alison to any business looking to grow internationally’
Lynette McHendry
Founder and Director
We had the privilege of working with Alison Cummings on the development of Spear & Arrow’s Export Marketing Strategy. Alison brought exceptional expertise, structure, and clarity to the process, delivering a comprehensive strategy that was both visionary and practical. Her ability to analyse complex market opportunities—across Ireland, the UK, the EU and translate them into actionable sales, marketing, and operational plans has given us a clear roadmap for sustainable international growth. The strategy she produced not only reflects a deep understanding of our brand values and industry trends, but also provides measurable KPIs and export-focused solutions that will support us for years to come. Alison’s professionalism, attention to detail, and commitment to delivering excellence made her a pleasure to work with. We would highly recommend her to any business seeking to expand into new markets with confidence and clarity
Dustin Khan
Founder and Director
Before working with Yvonne, we had an ambition to expand our international footprint and become more strategic in our actions, but lacked a clear roadmap and structure for how to do it effectively and efficiently. After the Export Development Plan, we had a well-defined strategy that broke down the opportunities by market, gave us confidence in our priorities, and highlighted the practical steps we needed to take to grow in a stable fashion. As a result, we’re now moving forward with clarity, targeting the right markets with a much stronger chance of success in the near future
Joe Gould
CEO Honestly t/a 6 Pack Snacks
Working with Alison Cummins at AC Insights has been a huge help for Honestly.ie. Her expertise and guidance were invaluable in getting our shelf life and processes right. This was a very complicated and stressful part of the business for us to navigate but thanks to Alison’s support, we now have full confidence in our products reaching customers at their best quality and with a longer shelf life without compromising our natural ingredients list. I’d highly recommend her to any food business looking for clear, professional insights and reliable results.
Register Your Interest
Don’t miss the chance to join Dublin’s leading export programme for food companies. Limited spaces available!