A new scheme is being launched to help small food and drink producers in Wales to grow and to achieve international success.
NatWest's Food and Drink Accelerator aims to help producers to grow to the next level with dedicated advice and support.
Gemma Casey, NatWest Ecosystem Manager Wales, first introduced the project to food and drink firms at the BlasCymru/TasteWales event earlier this month and is now promoting it to firms across the country.
Gemma told BusinessLive the accelerator was designed to help firms that had achieved some success as start-ups but now needed more support to grow and sell their products further afield.
She said: "We felt that the sweet spot for our programme was with the food and drink sector in particular.
"It really could be anyone in food and drink production. So it could be one of the many great distilleries that we see around Wales at the moment. It could be dairy, it could be bakery. It could be confectionery. It could be really any of the food and drink producers that that we've got.
"It's important to us that they're already trading and generating revenue - this isn't a programme for startups. This really is for those businesses that are already trading that are in a position to scale and grow."
Food and drink firms that have previously taken part in NatWest's accelerator programmes include Boss Brewing, led by Sarah John, and Flawsome Drinks, led by Maciek Kacprzyk.
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The bank's accelerator programmes went fully virtual in March 2020. Gemma said that sudden change gave the bank time to think about doing things differently. So in Wales, as well as its ongoing "sector agnostic" accelerator programmes, NatWest decided to launch a project focused on food and drink.
She said: "We've got business and commercial relationship managers across Wales, and a fair chunk of their portfolios are taken up with food and drink businesses. And obviously, the last 18 months has been incredibly tough for that sector as it has for everybody else.
"However, there have also been some really interesting developments in terms of consumers, looking to buy locally and consumers becoming more interested in the provenance of their food and drink.
"So we know through talking to Welsh Government and others that there have been a plethora of artisan businesses starting and getting to a certain scale and pace over that period."
Gemma says NatWest is also aiming to bring more black and minority ethnic businesses into the accelerator programme.
Post-Brexit, the accelerator will also help businesses look beyond the EU to get their products into markets including the USA and New Zealand.
The accelerator will be open for applications until next month and will kick off in early January - contact NatWest for more information at cardiffaccelerator@natwest.com.
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Gemma said: "Our programme focuses very much on the peer to peer support, and the community that a cohort builds. And once you start talking about a sector specific accelerator, that community becomes even more important.
" We see in every single cohort those relationships develop and continue way after they've left the programme. So I'm involved in various WhatsApp groups from previous cohorts and you will still see messages on there saying, can anyone sense check this?"