Sprint · Retail · Consumer products
Applications openRetail Access: Q1 2027
Get your brand buyer-ready so retailers can list you
If a retail buyer asked for your prices, your product details and your pitch tomorrow, could you send them, and would the numbers still leave you a margin? In four weeks you’ll learn what goes into the pack a buyer needs before they can list you, and how to build your own.
- Applications close
- 6 January 2027
- Starts
- 11 January 2027
- Length
- 4 weeks
What you’ll learn to build
Your Trade Pack
- A costed price list that works for you and the retailer, including on promotion
- A product and supply sheet with everything a buyer needs to set you up
- A buyer pitch that shows why your brand earns its space on the shelf
Who it’s for
Consumer product brands with a product on sale, aiming for their first listing with a supermarket or high street chain.
Week by week
Each week, a session teaches one part of your Trade Pack, and you build that part yourself before the next one. You’ll get the full guide to every week when you join.
Week 1
Choose your retailer and your case
Think like a buyer. Know which retailer you’re going for first, with which products, and why the shelf is better with you on it.
Week 2
Make the numbers work
Price for the shelf. Build a price list where the retailer makes their margin, the shopper sees a fair price and you still make money.
Week 3
Prove you can supply
Answer the buyer’s practical questions. Put everything a buyer needs to set you up and trust your supply on one sheet.
Week 4
Build your buyer pitch
Pitch the shelf, not the product. Turn your brief, your prices and your supply sheet into a pitch a buyer can say yes to.
How it runs
11 January to 8 February 2027. Online: a session each week, with Discussion Hours and a cohort chat in between.
- Kick-off and a starting checkMeet the cohort and the Growth Studio team, and get a buyer’s-eye check of your product page and any trade material you send us when you apply.
- A session each weekLed by the Growth Studio team: what makes each part of your Trade Pack good and how to put it together, with some group activities along the way.
- Discussion HoursGroup sessions to share your drafts and questions with other founders and our experts, and see them the way a buyer would.
- Feedback on your workBuild each part in your own time, then send it to our AI reviewer for feedback before the next session.
- Networking and a cohort chatQuick-fire introductions at kick-off, then a cohort chat to swap drafts with other founders and put questions to the experts.
- Your before and afterAt the end we rerun your starting check, and the Sprint closes with awards for the best Trade Pack, the biggest before-and-after and the founder who did most for the group.
Why now
Shelf space isn’t growing. UK grocery sales are forecast to rise by more than £45 billion by 2031, mostly through inflation and population growth rather than people buying more (IGD, June 2026). A new brand usually has to win space from one already there, so buyers look hard at whether it will sell and whether the numbers work.
Smaller brands do well with new products, but keeping a listing is harder. Smaller manufacturers account for 22% of new-product sales in UK grocery against 15% of the market, yet lower rates of sale leave their lines more at risk when retailers review ranges (Circana, July 2024). Getting margins, compliance and supply right first gives a listing a better chance of lasting.
Who you’ll work with
The Growth Studio team, who lead the sessions, and specialists in retail, pricing and supply chain who join the Discussion Hours and answer questions in the cohort chat, alongside a cohort of founders getting their brands ready for retail.
What we can’t promise
We can’t promise a buyer meeting or a listing: that decision belongs to the retailer. You leave with everything a buyer needs to make it.