Bread & Jam is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its flagship Festival event by launching a new competition offering startups the chance to compete for industry investment worth £95k.
Bread Winner is a seven-round pitching competition to “find the ultimate fmcg challenger brand with the most potential”.
A panel of industry investors will select 42 brands to take part, with the finalists to pitch live to judges at the upcoming Bread & Jam Festival on 14 and 15 July in London.
The winner will receive up to £25k from angel investors, including Giles Brook and Strong Roots founder Sam Dennigan, and a further £70k in services, such as a four-week billboard campaign in London, provided by Stratus and Backlite, legal advice from Joelson, branding expertise from A Tribe Called West, operational support from YF and Pesto, and social media guidance from Snackable, plus a stand at Sial Paris 2026.
“The Bread Winner Competition is an incredible opportunity for challenger brands to get in front of brilliant investors who can help unlock the funding and support needed to fuel long-term growth,” said Bread & Jam co-founder Jason Gibb. “And someone will walk away with a game-changing prize.”
Brook added: “I will be looking to find, and back, a brilliant founder with a clear ‘why’, strong commercials and an amazing product.”
Dennigan said: “Having built Strong Roots from the ground up, I know first-hand how much the right capital at the right moment can change everything. We’re here to find the right entrepreneur and supercharge what they’re already building.”
The competition is open to all brands attending the Bread & Jam Festival currently raising pre-seed (up to £250k) and seed (£250k–£1.5m) investment. Six places are reserved for ‘impact’ brands and six more for female-founded businesses.
Gibb launched the Bread & Jam community alongside co-founder Tara Mei in 2016 to support startups across the industry.
Initially called Bread & Butter, its first event took place at the Institute of Directors with 400 attendees. Bread & Jam has since hosted more than 350 events, and its annual festival brings together thousands of food founders, retailers, investors, industry experts and media.
This year’s event – once again held at London’s Business Design Centre – will see more than 100 speakers from the likes of Bold Bean Co, Gymkhana Fine Foods, Cheeky Panda, Better Nature, Two Chicks, All The Aunties and PerfectTed share tips and insights into how to launch, scale and grow an fmcg challenger brand.
The buyer pitching programme will also be expanded to offer 1,000 curated pitching slots with more than 100 retail buyers from the likes of Co-op, Ocado and Holland & Barrett, and there will be an enhanced event programme to celebrate the 10-year anniversary.
“It has been a huge privilege to be part of the growth journeys of so many entrepreneurs in our industry,” Mei said. “Over the last decade, we’ve seen challenger brands become far more disciplined in how they scale, with a stronger focus on long-term profitability, resilient supply chains, health-conscious innovation and building sustainable consumer demand.
“It’s an exciting space to be in, and we’re proud to continue playing a role in its evolution.”
More information on how to apply for the Bread Winner competition can be found at breadandjamfest.com/breadwinner.
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