Recap: Food Pioneers Pitch Event 2025

On Thursday 16 October, after six months of hard work, the Food Pioneers Program came to a festive close. Fifteen innovative food entrepreneurs presented their product or concept at the Natural Pavilion in Almere. In front of a full room of professionals and food lovers, they delivered high level pitches to a panel of five experts.

The participants in the Food Pioneers Program are the impact makers behind The Plate of Tomorrow. We are proud that Food Pioneers can offer this new generation of food entrepreneurs a platform to present themselves, give them concrete tools to grow and connect them to leading partners so they can truly take the next step.

Pitches, panel and prize winners

Programme manager Thera van Heuveln hosted the official programme. Each Food Pioneer had two minutes to pitch to the expert panel:

• Chris van Bokkum (SOL)

• Bart Jan Veldhuizen (Kitchen Republic)

• Wouter Hagoort (Broccoli BV)

• Sabine Koers (Vermaat Groep)

• Karel Raymakers (Chef Centraal)

After every round of three pitches, the panel shared live feedback on stage and asked follow up questions. At the end of all pitches, the panel presented the following awards:

Audience Pioneer 2025 — Helia Received the SOL ticket worth €5,000 for personal development and leadership, presented by Chris van Bokkum (SOL).

Broccoli BV Giveaway — Miuz Professional support and creative guidance in developing a convincing investor deck.

Vermaat Groep Giveaway — FUNCTION and Damchi Kimchi Follow up for a potential collaboration.

Kitchen Republic Giveaway — Damchi Kimchi and De Veldfabriek A place in the Retail Ready Program and free access to the community.

Chef Centraal Giveaway — De Veldfabriek Follow up meeting for a possible listing at Chef Centraal.

These are powerful opportunities that help the entrepreneurs take their business to the next level.

All the photos

Keynote by Maartje Nelissen

Maartje Nelissen (The Food Line up and PlantFWD) shared an inspiring and open story about her entrepreneurial journey, from successes to setbacks and the decisions she would make differently with the knowledge she has now. She underlined the importance of getting your product and processes truly solid before scaling up, managing your cash flow closely and growing in small, manageable steps.

These were valuable lessons for every entrepreneur, and directly applicable for the Food Pioneers of 2025.

Tasting: meet, taste, connect

During the closing drinks, the space transformed into an informal tasting. All Food Pioneers presented their products for visitors to try. From brownies and protein bars to oat drinks and crunchy jalapeños, the Pioneers’ tables stayed busy throughout the evening.

There was plenty of tasting, entrepreneurs talked with visitors and new matches and collaborations were made on the spot.

The growth of the Food Pioneers

The 2025 cohort clearly showed how much progress they had made over the past months. During the programme, the entrepreneurs received education, personal coaching, access to a strong network and many learning moments with and from each other.

The pitch helped them sharpen their choices, lessons learned and next priorities. The matches made on the day with the expert partners will help the Food Pioneers move forward again in a very concrete way.

Looking ahead: join the 2026 edition

Registration for the eighth edition of the Food Pioneers Program in 2026 is now open. Entrepreneurs who want to join the next cohort can apply via foodpioneers.nl/food-pioneers-program.

Want to attend the Pitch Event in 2026 as a visitor? Receive updates on the date, programme and tickets via the Food Pioneers newsletter so you are the first to know.