Skip to main content

Food business program

Link copied

Calling Brisbane’s cafés and restaurants. If you want to work on your business, not just in your business, this fully funded program is for you.

About the program

In 2026, Brisbane City Council is giving food businesses an opportunity to work on their business, not just in it, through a fully funded development program.

The program gives you access to leading industry experts and practical, real-world tools to strengthen every part of your business.

Participants will work directly with Imagine Collective, a Brisbane-based consulting group specialising in:

  • operational excellence
  • menu engineering
  • COGS (cost of goods sold) control
  • marketing strategy
  • customer experience
  • scalable systems.

Program benefits

This program is designed to help eligible food business to:

  • reduce costs and increase profitability
  • create and deliver effective marketing campaigns
  • strengthen operations
  • improve menu performance
  • build brand presence
  • optimise customer experience.

Your commitment as a participant

To participate in this program, you must be able to attend:

  1. a 2-hour onboarding session at your business at a time that is convenient to you and your business.
  2. 4 one-on-one coaching sessions (approximately 1.5 hour per session) with your industry mentor, at a time that is convenient to you and your business (in person, online, or by phone).
  3. a full-day workshop that brings together food businesses and industry experts to address key operational and marketing aspects of your business.

The program will commence in mid-March 2026 and is expected to conclude in June 2026.

Eligibility criteria 

To be eligible to apply for this program, your food business must:

Available

be located in the Brisbane Local Government Area (LGA).

Available

have a current and active ABN/ACN.

Available

be a food business involved in the sale or provision of dine-in or takeaway meals, such as a cafe or restaurant.

Available

hold a current Brisbane City Council 'fixed premise' food business licence.

alert rhombus

Note

Preference will be given to independent businesses rather than franchises.

You are ineligible to apply for this program if:

Unavailable

you have participated previously in a Brisbane City Council food business program.

Unavailable

your business is wholly or partly owned or managed by federal, state or local government.

Unavailable

your business is owned or managed by an employee or contractor of Brisbane City Council.

Unavailable

your business operates solely from a home residence.

Unavailable

your business is located in an area that is not retail focused.

Unavailable

your business is located in a large shopping centre complex.

How to apply

If you feel this opportunity is right for your food business, apply online now.

Applications close on Wednesday 4 March 2026.

1 Before you apply

Before you apply, check the following:

  1. Can you meet the program commitments?
  2. Does your business meet the eligbility criteria?
2 How to apply

Complete the online application and submit by the due date.

Apply now