Seedlab Australia co-founder and CEO Dr Hazel MacTavish-West.
Seedlab Australia has announced sponsorship of the Seedlab Australia Churchill fellowship, which will be available nationally from 2026 for five years. The Seedlab Australia Churchill fellowship will support innovation in food and beverage science, sustainability and nutrition, and marking a full-circle moment for its co-founder and CEO, Dr Hazel MacTavish-West.
The fellowship will be offered for the first time in 2026 and is designed to support Australians exploring new ideas across the food and beverage sector, including novel product development, enhanced nutrition, innovative packaging solutions, sustainable systems, waste reduction, advanced processing, and social impact initiatives.
Unlike traditional business grants the Churchill Fellowship program is intentionally broad in scope. It is open to researchers, industry professionals, innovators and early-stage founders, including those without a commercial product or established business, who are seeking the space to think bigger and learn from global best practice.
Seedlab Australia is a proven, independent business program supporting Australian and New Zealand FMCG business founders producing products for local, state-wide and national retail. Backed by Woolworths, Seedlab Australia evolved from Seedlab Tasmania, a pilot initiative launched in 2021, which arose directly from Dr Hazel MacTavish-West’s own Churchill fellowship travels in 2018.
“Receiving a Churchill Fellowship was a game changer for me,” said Dr MacTavish West, who was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2017.
“It created space to think bigger and more strategically, learn from global best practice and bring those insights back home. This new fellowship is about creating that same opportunity for people with ideas that can genuinely improve how we produce products, consume and value food.”
With academic training in agriculture, food science and chemistry, and nearly 35 years’ experience working across innovation and entrepreneurship, Dr MacTavish-West founded Seedlab Australia on the belief that founders and innovators need both practical support and access to deep expertise to succeed.
Since its inception, Dr Hazel MacTavish-West and the Seedlab Australia team have supported over 600 food, beverage, personal care and home care businesses throughout Australia and New Zealand. The organisation has been fully supported by Woolworths since 2021.
“Too often, people with strong ideas are limited by access to knowledge, to networks, or to the confidence that comes from seeing what’s possible. This Fellowship is about removing some of those barriers and backing people to explore ideas that can make a real difference,” added Hazel.
Fellows will undertake international research and return to Australia to share their learnings with industry, founders and the broader food ecosystem.
“This isn’t just about one person travelling overseas, it’s about bringing knowledge home and sharing it, so the entire industry benefits,” said Hazel.
Applications will open nationally, with a deadline in April 2026.
For more information on eligibility and how to apply, visit Churchill Trust.
Seedlab Australia co-founder and CEO Dr Hazel MacTavish-West.
