The Food Harbour is a new hot spot for food startups in Hamburg. There, they will receive extensive advice, the opportunity to further develop their products and access to a far-reaching network. Around 200 guests attended the official opening on October 18, 2022, including Hamburg's Senator for Economic Affairs and Innovation Michael Westhagemann, who gave the welcoming speech.
An accelerator is the core of Food Harbour
Food Harbour is located in the Rothenburgsort district of Hamburg in the premises of Foodboom, one of the leading content producers and marketing agencies for the food industry. Together with a number of partners, the Foodboom team also runs the Food Harbour program. The project receives financial support from the city of Hamburg, and the most prominent partner from the business community is Rügenwalder Mühle, the market leader in vegetarian and vegan meat substitutes in Germany.
The most important element at Food Harbour will be the accelerator, which primarily aims to help food startups to further develop and market their products and offer them workspace and production opportunities. The first batch has recently been launched with five Hamburg-based startups that are still at the very beginning of their development. In the future, the support program will happen twice a year. The financial resources for this are to come from a fund that is currently being set up. In the long term, a new location is also planned with considerably more space and equipment.
Hamburg becomes a food metropolis
The Food Harbour is a further step towards Hamburg becoming a food metropolis. This is also represented by two startups that were originally founded in Berlin and have now found their location in the Hanseatic city. Both introduced themselves at the opening ceremony. Mushlabs develops meat substitute products from mycelium, the root network of mushrooms. Bluu Seafood produces cell-based fish for which no animal has to die.
