Food and beverage innovators
Next date: Thursday, 29 October 2026 | 04:00 PM
to 07:30 PM
Go behind the scenes of one of Australia's leading food innovation centres
Are you a food and beverage business looking to innovate or develop new products? Do you have a food or beverage idea and want to better understand the support available to help bring it to market?
Monash Food Innovation, in collaboration with 5 local councils, invites you to an exclusive opportunity to step inside one of Australia's most advanced food innovation centres.
Discover how research, technology and collaboration are shaping the future of food – and how your business can be part of it.
This event will also launch a series of webinars to support the local food and beverage industry.
Event details
Thursday 29 October
4pm – 7.30pm
Monash Food Innovation Centre
Green Chemical Futures Building 86
13 Rainforest Walk (enter off Research Way)
Monash University, Clayton VIC 3168
Tickets: $20 per person (includes light dinner and refreshments)
Book online
Bookings close 5pm, Wednesday 21 October
About the event
This exclusive industry event offers food, beverage and supplement businesses the opportunity to explore Monash Food Innovation's world‑class facilities, hear from industry leaders and connect with food industry suppliers.
What you'll experience
Monash Food Innovation General Manager Rod Heath, showcasing how innovation is supporting the future of food.
A guided tour of cutting‑edge facilities and specialised spaces, including:
The commercial kitchen: A fully equipped, industry-grade kitchen designed to support product development, recipe refinement and small-scale production trials. The space enables businesses to test new concepts, optimise formulations and explore innovative food solutions in a practical, commercial environment.
The virtual supermarket room: An immersive research environment that simulates a real retail shopping experience, allowing businesses to evaluate packaging, shelf presence, pricing and consumer decision-making. The space supports valuable consumer insights and market testing before product launch.
The prototyping hub: A cutting-edge innovation space equipped with the latest advanced prototyping and packaging technologies, enabling businesses to rapidly develop, test and refine product concepts. The hub supports experimentation with packaging design, product functionality and manufacturing solutions, helping accelerate the journey from idea to market-ready product.
A presentation by Joseph Buccheri, Managing Director of IMPEX Lawyers and Advisers, sharing his experience as an international trade lawyer, with practical insights to help food SMEs navigate opportunities and challenges in domestic and international markets.
Networking opportunities with like‑minded food, beverage and supplement businesses seeking collaboration or growth.
Learn more about an online series to support the local food and beverage industry.
Meet local government representatives and learn how councils support local business.
MC'd by Dr Angeline Achariya, Monash Food Innovation co‑founder and respected Australian agrifood executive leader
Dinner and drinks provided.
Program schedule tour – option 1
4pm: Registration
4.15pm – 4.55pm: Optional tour 1
5pm – 5.45pm: Presentations, Q & A
6pm onwards: Dinner and networking
Program schedule tour – option 2
4.30pm: Registration
5pm – 5.45pm: Presentations, Q & A
5.50pm – 6.30pm: Optional tour 2 (post‑presentations)
6.30pm onwards: Dinner and networking
Attendees will only be able to book 1 of the 2 tour times. Tour is optional.
About Monash Food Innovation
Monash Food Innovation (MFI) is a state‑of‑the‑art facility located at Monash University's Clayton campus, dedicated to delivering end‑to‑end food innovation.
The centre supports businesses across new product and packaging development, consumer insights, market validation and strategic implementation.
Our speakers
Rod Heath – General Manager, Monash Food Innovation
Rod Heath is the General Manager of Monash Food Innovation, leading innovation and industry engagement initiatives that support the growth of the food and beverage sector.
With experience across multinational companies, Rod has worked across marketing, sales and new product development in categories spanning everyday food, chocolate, health and beverages.
Passionate about bridging industry and education, he works closely with businesses, industry leaders and students to support innovation, consumer insight and commercial product development within the evolving food and beverage sector.
Jospeh Buccheri – Founder and Managing Director IMPEX Lawyers & Advisers
Joseph Buccheri is the Founder and Managing Director of IMPEX Lawyers and Advisers recognised as a Global Top 200 Lawyer by the International Trade Council, one of the world’s foremost global trade bodies.
He is a specialist in commercial law, import/export growth and technology strategy for entrepreneurs, SME’s and various European and Asian Chamber boards for bilateral trade and investment facilitation with Australia.
With a keen passion for supporting Australia’s food sector, he also serves as General Counsel to Entyce Food Ingredients, a leading Australian food innovation, importer/exporter, manufacturer and distributor supplying national supermarkets and independent chains, domestic and International Franchise/Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) and major food service channels.
Dr Angeline Achariya
Dr Angeline Achariya is a prominent leader in food innovation and sustainable food systems, and co-founder of the Monash Food Innovation, which has supported over 4,500 businesses.
With 25 years of global experience across major companies, she has contributed more than $500 million in agrifood innovation.
She holds key national board roles, advises government on business policy, and co-hosts the Women Transforming Food podcast, and is widely recognised for her leadership, including being named a 2025 Victorian Honour Roll of Women Trailblazer.
Partners
This event is presented by Monash Food Innovation – Monash University, in partnership with Monash Council, City of Greater Dandenong, City of Kingston, Knox City Council and City of Stonnington.
When
-
Thursday, 29 October 2026 | 04:00 PM
- 07:30 PM
Location
Monash Food Innovation Centre (enter off Research Way), 13 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, 3168, View Map
-37.909773,145.131299
13 Rainforest Walk ,
Clayton 3168
Monash Food Innovation Centre (enter off Research Way)
13 Rainforest Walk ,
Clayton 3168
Food and beverage innovators