Building the business case for better food.

We are progressive commercial partners for the food industry, turning ambition into strategy, innovation into product, and good intentions into lasting business growth.

Let’s build it together →

+Brands +Manufacturers +Retailers +Founders +Strategy +Innovation +Growth +Transformation +Challenger brands +Foodservice +Brands +Manufacturers +Retailers +Founders +Strategy +Innovation +Growth +Transformation +Challenger brands +Foodservice

Building better

Most food businesses already want to do better. What they lack is the commercial architecture to make it real.

CLC Partners is a boutique consultancy that creates, launches and lands change with you.

We have worked inside, alongside and in partnership with some of the most significant names in British and international food.

We work with retail and foodservice operators, brands, manufacturers, and founders to shape the thinking, design the solution and implement solutions that stick.

Previous work examples

Brand founding

2x build from kitchen table to big retail and major foodservice

Foodservice operator

Industry-first innovation programme from brief to launch

M&A support

Foodservice expertise across multiple acquisitions

Retailer

Category buying and proposition with P&Ls up to £520m revenue

DTC

Product and commercial scale-up with CAGR of 88% over 3 years

International retail

Specialist ranging and implementation

Our services

For brands & manufacturers

Create & Launch

Future-focused category, mission and division strategy
Product and portfolio innovation
Commercial positioning and strategy
Partner ecosystem development
Founder mentorship

For retailers & large food businesses

Drive Change

In-house strategic capability
Health and sustainability acceleration teams
Innovation programme design
Cross-functional alignment
Supplier and portfolio transition support

Industry-wide

Connect & Challenge

Our sister business, The Meals Collective, creates brands focused on furthering the industry. Where possible, we make connections that move the whole category forward, not just one business.

Experience that spans the industry

We have worked inside, alongside and in partnership with some of the most significant names in British and international food.

DTC & eCommerce

Gousto Ocado

Major grocery & retail

Co-op Carrefour

International & aviation

Qatar Airways Food & Drink Wales

Wholesale & foodservice

Bidfood Elior

M&A advisory

CADEN Strategy Partners

Brand

Multiple brands

Selected work

Challenger brand — Scaling

From kitchen table to national retailer in 18 months

A founder-led food brand needed commercial structure to match its product ambition. We built the channel strategy, led the retail negotiations and embedded the operational capability to sustain growth.

Retail — Category strategy

Rebuilding a category proposition around health and sustainability

A major grocery retailer needed to evolve its positioning in a rapidly changing category. We led the insight programme, defined the strategic framework and designed the supplier transition roadmap.

Foodservice — Innovation Programme

Open Doors: Changing how an industry engages challenger brands

We turned Bidfood’s desire to better engage smaller, progressive suppliers into reality by developing, implementing and managing the first accelerator in foodservice.

Coming soon

Acquisition support for a challenger brand exit

Commercial due diligence and strategic narrative support for a founder preparing for their first acquisition process.

Our core team

Andrew Allen

Founder & challenger brand specialist

Andrew is a multi-award-winning food and drink founder. He has scaled two brands from kitchen table to national, multichannel success, and advised and managed many more.

Since moving into consultancy, he has specialised in challenger brands and foodservice. His work spans industry-first accelerator schemes, acquisition support, innovation programmes and strategic brand advisory.

Olly Pinder

Retail, eCommerce & growth strategy

Olly has 15 years of experience spanning retail, eCommerce and food innovation. He has worked with Gousto, Ocado, Co-op and Qatar Airways, building a strong track record of driving growth, scaling businesses and leading strategic transformation.

Today, he advises brands and retailers on new growth opportunities through insight-led strategy, product innovation and a clear understanding of modern consumer and commercial needs.

Our sister business

The Meals Collective creates brands focused on furthering the industry. We connect, we challenge, and where the market needs something new, we build it.

Let’s build it together.

Whether you’re a brand with ambition, a larger operator embracing change, or a founder needing support, we’ve been in your shoes, and we’re here for you.