Food and beverage is the most represented industry alongside biotech in this year’s Hurun UK Under 30s list, with F&B names doubling from the previous year (7 vs 14).
To make the list, Hurun identifies and includes entrepreneurs aged below 30 (at the time of entering) who have founded businesses worth $10m.
A total of 14 food and beverage leaders have made the Hurun UK Under 30s list for 2024, including brothers Levi and Teddie Levenfiche who secured backing from Dragon’s Den for their PerfectTed drinks brand.
For the first time the list also features ‘next generation’ business leaders delivering strong growth in their family’s businesses. Next generation entries are required to manage investments or revenues of around $20m to qualify.
Entries in this category includes Eleanor Thatcher of Thatchers Cider. Thatcher is now a full board member of the Somerset-based drinks brand with a brief to reduce the business’ footprint. She recently led the launch of Juicy Apple, a cider created entirely using renewable energy.
Alongside Thatcher, Marisa Poster co-founder at PerfectTed, and Réka Trón co-founder and COO of Multus are among the females to claim spots on the list within the F&B space, with a total of 21 women featured sector-wide.
At 22, Piers Millar - the co-founder at Kaikaku - is the youngest entrepreneur to be recognised this year.
Below is the full breakdown of all 14 entrepreneurs in the F&B category for 2024.
| Name | Founder/Next generation | Company | City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Josef Chen | Founder | Kaikaku | London |
| Nick Doman | Founder | Ocean Bottle | London |
| Martin Heathcote | Next generation | Heathcote Holdings | Pluckley |
| Levi Levenfiche | Founder | PerfectTed | London |
| Teddie Levenfiche | Founder | PerfectTed | London |
| Cai Linton | Founder | Multus | London |
| Dylan McMahon | Founder | Kendamil | London |
| Piers Millar | Founder | Kaikaku | London |
| Kevin Pan | Founder | Multus | London |
| Will Pearson | Founder | Ocean Bottle | London |
| Marisa Poster | Founder | PerfectTed | London |
| Eleanor Thatcher | Next generation | Thatchers | Winscombe |
| Ivan Tregar | Founder | Kaikaku | London |
| Reka Tron | Founder | Multus | London |
While not classed as food and beverage, the founders behind infant nutrition business BoobyBiome also made the list under the biotech category.
Another notable entrant is Carlo Fedeli, founder of FlexSea - a seaweed-derived biomaterial that replaces plastic film packaging and degrades in a matter of weeks. Among other applications, it can be used for dry foods such as pasta, rice, grains, biscuits and nuts.
The total 82 entries on Hurun’s list have set up businesses with a combined value of more than £2.3bn and between them created 1,250 jobs.
These inspiring young entrepreneurs are the future of the British economy.
Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun report chairman and chief researcher
Fifty-four (65.9%) of the entrepreneurs featured in this year’s under30s research have ventures in London. A total of 5 are based in the East of England, 5 in the South East, 4 in the East Midlands, and 4 in the South West.
Nine of the 82 entrepreneurs attended Imperial College London. Oxford came in second with 8 alumni. Notably, 11% of those who appeared on the list did not attend university - this has dropped from 17% in 2022’s list and 13% in 2023.
“Some of these young pioneers are helping address some of the world’s most pressing medical and environmental challenges. We all benefit from their passion and hard work. Their ventures create products and services we want and need while generating thousands of jobs and millions of pounds for the public finances,” said Hoogewerf.
“It will be fascinating to watch how their businesses progress in the years and decades ahead. Some of these fresh ventures will before long develop into multi-billion pound operations. Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have vowed to ‘kickstart economic growth’. These are the people who can help the new Labour government do exactly that and they need to be supported - not stifled.”
In other news, new research has found that the younger generation is turning back to meat and dairy.