Beverage and Food Gurus

What Beverage and Food Gurus does

Beverage and Food Gurus Ltd (BFGS) is a privately-held, boutique food technology consulting firm headquartered in Mt Eden, Auckland, New Zealand. Founded in 2021, the company operates from an independent product development laboratory and offers four integrated service pillars: New Product Development (recipe development, ingredient sourcing, product costing, regulatory compliance, technical documentation, commercial trials, shelf life testing), Product Validation (shelf life testing, consumer concept testing, claims testing, commercial modelling), Technical Consulting (reformulation, troubleshooting, contract packer assessment, crisis management), and Business Advice/Training (including the JUMPSTART subscription webinar course hosted on Thinkific). The firm is led by three founder-directors — Sarah Walter (Innovation), Sam Borgfeldt (Managing), and John Evans (Commercial) — each with over 20 years of food and beverage industry experience across NZ, the UK, France, and Spain, supported by five qualified product development technologists.

The company serves four vertical markets: beverage (RTDs, functional drinks, dairy, sports nutrition, juices, etc.), food (snacks, confectionery, dairy, sauces, ice cream, etc.), functional supplements (adaptogens, nootropics, probiotics, vitamins, etc.), and pet food, with explicit specialisation in hard-to-formulate products. Service delivery spans both New Zealand and Australia via direct client engagement with no intermediaries, complemented by the self-serve JUMPSTART educational product targeting food and beverage startups. The revenue model is overwhelmingly professional services (project-based engagement) with a small recurring subscription component from JUMPSTART; pricing is not publicly disclosed and is established via confidential direct discussion.

The business is founder-owned and managed with no institutional investment, parent company, or subsidiary structure. Non-dilutive R&D support has come via three consecutive Callaghan Innovation grants (NZD ~37K total between 2022 and 2024), a New Zealand government innovation funding programme. The company holds no disclosed patents, trademarks, or major certifications, and maintains an industry association affiliation with the NZ Beverage Council. Customer logos, revenue figures, and customer concentration data are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Beverage and Food Gurus

Legal name

Beverage and Food Gurus Ltd

Website

https://bfgs.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Beverage and Food Gurus is a New Zealand boutique food technology consultancy offering product development, validation, and technical consulting services to the beverage, food, functional supplement, and pet food industries, serving clients across NZ and Australia from its Auckland laboratory.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Technology Consulting

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169), Food Service Contractors (72231)

SIC

Beverages (2080), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Beverage Service (Coffee/Tea/Juice) & Refreshment Stations (HSACAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Functional & Wellness Beverage Shops (Shots, Adaptogens, Vitamin/Collagen Drinks) (THAFAKAJ), Non-Alcoholic Craft Beverage Bars (Mocktail/Zero-Proof Bars) (THAFAKAF), Mobile Beverage Vendors (Coffee/Juice/Tea Carts & Trucks) (THAFAHAF)

Keywords

• Food technology consulting
• New product development
• Beverage formulation
• Product validation services
• Food industry consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. New Product Development Services: Professional services including recipe development, ingredient sourcing, product costing analysis, label & regulatory compliance, technical documentation, commercial trials, and shelf life testing for beverage, food, functional supplements and pet food industries.
2. Product Validation Services: Shelf life testing/validation, commercial sample production, consumer concept testing, packaging concept testing, consumer claims testing, and commercial modelling.
3. Technical Consulting: Cost out projects/reformulation, ingredient sourcing, process troubleshooting, quality issue troubleshooting, contract packer assessment, supplier contract negotiations, and crisis management.
4. Business Advice/Training (JUMPSTART): Educational webinar course providing fundamental knowledge for launching food and beverage businesses. Subscription-based access for 12 months covering concept validation, product development, packaging, sensory testing, food safety, commercialisation, costings, and sales/distribution.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Beverage and Food Gurus Ltd is a boutique food technology consulting firm that delivers New Product Development (NPD), Product Validation, Technical Consulting, and Business Advice/Training services to the Beverage, Food, Functional Supplement and Pet Food industries across New Zealand and Australia. Services span recipe development, ingredient sourcing, product costing, regulatory compliance, commercial trials, shelf life testing, consumer concept testing, reformulation, and crisis management, all delivered through a fully independent product development laboratory in Mt Eden, Auckland.

Product overview

Beverage and Food Gurus is a service company offering a unified suite of product development and consulting solutions for the Beverage, Food, Functional Supplement, and Pet Food industries. The core offerings consist of four integrated service pillars: New Product Development (NPD), Product Validation, Technical Consulting, and Business Advice/Training—all delivered through their independent product development laboratory in Mt Eden, Auckland. Additionally, they offer the JUMPSTART webinar course as a self-paced educational product covering the full product development lifecycle from concept to commercialisation. Together, these services provide end-to-end support from initial concept through to market launch, with expertise spanning recipe development, regulatory compliance, shelf life testing, consumer concept testing, and commercial scaling.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• New Product Development (NPD)

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• NZ Beverage CouncilminorOthersBeverage and Food Gurus is proud to be associated with the NZ Beverage Council, New Zealand's industry association for beverage companies. This is an industry association membership/affiliation rather than a commercial partnership.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• SGS: Global inspection, verification, testing and certification firm with a substantial food and beverage practice covering product development, regulatory compliance and supply chain assurance — adjacent competitor for medium-to-large NZ/AU brands.
• Intertek: Global testing, inspection and certification company with an extensive food and beverage product development, regulatory and quality assurance practice — overlapping with BFGS's compliance, label review and quality troubleshooting.
• CSIRO Food Innovation Centre: Australia's national science agency running a dedicated food innovation centre with product development, sensory and pilot manufacturing services — comparable offering to BFGS but at much greater scale and with a broader scientific mandate.
• Eurofins Scientific: World-leading food testing and product development services group with broad analytical chemistry, microbiology and consultancy capabilities. Overlaps with BFGS's validation, shelf-life and claims testing services but operates globally and across many industries.

Direct peers

• Hyman Brick & Co: Australian food and grocery industry consultancy providing NPD, category insights and commercialisation support to brands and retailers — a directly comparable boutique services model focused on the ANZ market.
• Campden BRI: UK-based food and drink research association offering product development, sensory, microbiology and regulatory support to manufacturers — a strong analogue for BFGS's lab-based independent NPD and validation model.
• Mérieux NutriSciences: Global food testing, safety and product development consultancy serving beverage and food manufacturers with sensory, shelf-life and formulation services — closely matching BFGS's NPD + validation + technical consulting offering, but at much larger scale.
• Leatherhead Food Research: UK-based food and beverage research consultancy (now part of Sagentia Innovation) providing NPD, regulatory and claims support — a like-sized boutique scientific consultancy directly comparable to BFGS's service mix.

Regional players

• Plant & Food Research: New Zealand Crown Research Institute delivering food and beverage science, ingredient innovation and pilot-scale processing — a significant NZ-based provider of food R&D services comparable in scope but publicly funded.
• New Zealand Food Innovation Network (NZFIN): Network of NZ food innovation hubs providing pilot plant, product development and commercialisation support to NZ food/beverage businesses — a regional public-sector analogue of BFGS's lab-based NPD offering.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Beverage and Food Gurus