Expert session: How to manage your finances

Running an F&B business involves more than just creating a great product; it means understanding your financials. In this hands-on session, Enver and Antonie break down the financial fundamentals every founder needs to build a profitable business.

The experts
For this session, we welcome Enver and Antonie from Changemakers, a firm that helps impact-driven organizations grow and thrive through financial management, strategic business development, and coaching.

Enver Loke: Founder of Changemakers and co-founder of Chocolatemakers, a Dutch bean-to-bar chocolate producer. Having built the company from the ground up, he knows firsthand what it takes to make a food business financially sustainable—from calculating the true cost of a product to finding margins that actually work.

Antonie Louter: CFO at Changemakers, Antonie is the numbers guy. He helps impact-driven organizations get their finances in order. He has worked closely with F&B brands, including community members LÄCKER and Kari’s Crackers.

About the session
We’ll start with the basics: what does it actually cost to make your product? From packaging and ingredients to equipment, staff, and cleaning. We’ll walk you through how to calculate your true cost price, the difference between direct and indirect costs, and how to determine the gross margin you need to survive and grow.

Antonie and Enver will walk you through the real financial challenges faced by two community members: a startup and a scale-up. The focus is on figuring out what you need to make money, not on what the competition’s profit margins look like.

The session concludes with time to apply the framework to your own situation.

Who is this for?
F&B founders at any stage; whether you’re just starting out or already scaling. This session is for you if you recognize any of these situations:
– You’re just starting out and need to figure out how to price your products.
– Your costs have turned out to be much higher than expected.
– A retailer or distributor wants to come on board but asks for volumes or discounts that put pressure on your margins.
– You’re growing fast, but earning less. Revenue is going up, but profit stays behind or disappears altogether.

The agenda
9:30 – 10:00 Walk-in
10:00 – 13:00 Expert session: How to manage your finances
13:00 – 13:45 Networking lunch 

Registration for this event closes on June 9. You can submit your questions or topics of interest when you sign up. We look forward to an interesting session! 

If you are unable to attend, please let us know at least 12 hours in advance.