Who We Are
From “Kitchen of the World” to “Food of the Future”
Thailand stands out in food — in its ingredients, its accumulated wisdom, its diversity, and the capability of its entrepreneurs. But in a world where the food industry is changing at speed, a good product may no longer be enough. Today the opportunity for Thai food lies not in exporting raw ingredients or traditional products alone, but in adding value through innovation, technology and market understanding — creating food products that answer the needs of modern consumers and compete in the global market
The National Innovation Agency (Public Organization), or NIA, under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI), established Thai Kitchen: Crafted FoodTech Accelerator Program to support Thai food-innovation entrepreneurs and businesses in building capability and accelerating growth systematically, through the “Crafted” process — developing, testing, adapting and refining an innovation until it is ready for market
Programme Founded in 2024
Programme funding
Why Thai Kitchen
As the world changes, Thai food must move forward
🎯 Business Growth
Develop your strategy and business model and build strong foundations for growth, through an intensive four-month curriculum covering Customer Discovery and Product-Market Fit
📢 Market & Brand
Understand your market and consumers, sharpen your communication and storytelling so the product stands out, and take part in business matching with Thailand’s leading food-industry networks, including Tipco Foods, ThaiBev, Butterfly Organic, Minor Food and Unilever
💰 Investment Readiness
Prepare for investment and for presenting your business, and connect to opportunities and sources of capital — closing with Demo Day and a pitch to national investors
🌍 Global Readiness
Build readiness for international markets — standards, regulations and business opportunities — with 1-on-1 advisors who design a customised journey for each business
5,000,000 THB Programme Fund
Access innovation funding and grants from NIA of up to 5 million baht per project, plus the chance to be matched with VCs and strategic investors
Media Reach Over 1 Million
Build awareness through NIA’s partner media channels, with a combined following of over one million, alongside national PR and coverage in the country’s major media
Focus Areas
Three Key Opportunities for Thai Food
Local Food to Global
Elevate local food and regional wisdom into products that compete in international markets
High-Value Thai Food & Fruits
Add value to Thai food and fruit through innovation and technology
Future Food
Develop food for the future, answering trends in health, an ageing society, sustainability and the demands of modern consumers
Voices from Our Cohort
Thank you to the programme, the team, and every expert who shared their knowledge for the opportunity to take part. The programme genuinely helped me grow personally and take my business further, and it contributes to sustainable development on both a personal and a business level. The structure and the intent behind the programme are excellent, and the experience and capability of the team, the staff, the mentors and the coaches are outstanding and truly professional.
A programme of real quality. It is like unearthing a gemstone and then cutting and polishing it together, while also helping promote it so that people can see its value and appreciate every beautiful facet of who we are. Thank you so much to the Thai Kitchen programme.
The instructors and staff were extremely supportive, thinking things through with us, offering advice, keeping us moving, and helping refine the way we express our ideas.
The Thai Kitchen 2026 programme showed us how to develop a product that can genuinely reach the market, and gave us a clear view of our growth path. We were impressed by the coaches and mentors who helped us see a Growth Roadmap we can actually act on. Thank you for the chance to become part of the Thai Kitchen family.
The Thai Kitchen programme supports Thai entrepreneurs in the food industry, particularly in innovative food. Given the capability of Thai entrepreneurs, I believe the strengths of our products and services can absolutely compete with imported international brands, whether on attributes or on functionality. Just as importantly, they can be exported to build Thailand’s reputation on the global stage.
Joining the Thai Kitchen programme let us set a new compass and re-plan the road ahead. Huge thanks to the coaches and mentors, because the advice and direction we received mean we can now plan the next one to five years with genuine clarity, and move forward with real energy.
What the Thai Kitchen programme gave us: first, a product perspective, with excellent guidance on how to improve and develop what we make. Second, a market perspective that helped us understand and prove whether the market we had in mind really has an audience. And third, the friendship and warmth, both from fellow participants and from every member of the team.
Taking part in this programme brought a great deal of learning and growth, with guidance from expert coaches and the chance to exchange experience with fellow entrepreneurs. Most importantly, we received the programme’s backing to push Thai innovation out onto the international stage.
This is the first programme I have joined that delivered this much. I had never heard of THAIFEX before, and walking the show was thrilling, with people and trade partners from so many countries. What impressed me most was that they were interested in our products. Even though we are a small operator, this was a genuinely huge opportunity. Without this programme we would never have had the chance to join a world-class event like that. My heartfelt thanks to the Thai Kitchen programme.
You can feel how rigorous the curriculum is, and how expert every instructor is, which leaves no doubt that the Thai Kitchen programme will succeed. The team are lovely, and they coordinate and deliver very quickly, especially during Business Matching, where they worked hard to select customers who genuinely fit our target group and to make real business matches happen. In the end, Thai Kitchen is a programme truly committed to carrying Thai SMEs out into the global market.
Beyond the depth of the training content itself, we gained valuable perspective and feedback on our product from the speakers and mentors, which we could take forward to develop products that precisely match what consumers want, both domestically and internationally.
We received excellent guidance from the instructors and specialists on product development, brand building, and taking products into overseas markets. It means Early me is no longer just a healthy soy milk within Thailand; we have built the capability to step out into the international market as well.
Programme Milestones
Discover Our History
Milestones for Thai Kitchen, from the programme’s founding in 2024 through to Cohort 2026 now open for applications — reflecting the rise of Thai FoodTech onto the world stage
Programme Founded
NIA established Thai Kitchen: Crafted FoodTech Accelerator Program under MHESI to accelerate the growth of Thai FoodTech entrepreneurs into global markets, sustainably
Batch 1 Cohort Launched (10 Startups)
Launched the first cohort with 10 selected Thai startups, beginning a four-month incubation programme with advisors from the country’s leading food businesses
Crafted FoodTech Brand Established
Positioned the Thai Kitchen brand around a Crafted FoodTech identity — uniting Thai culinary wisdom with innovation and technology to communicate its value to global markets
Batch 2 Cohort 2026 (12 Startups)
The second cohort expanded to 12 startups, with Open House, Pitching Bootcamp and Demo Day in April 2026 — covering the Modern Heirloom, High-Value Thai Food and Future Food tracks
- 12 Thai startups across Modern Heirloom, High-Value Thai Food and Future Food
- Open House + Pitching Bootcamp, March–April 2026
- Demo Day, with funding of up to 5 million baht available
Global Market Expansion
Long-term goal: bring Thai startups onto the world stage through business matching with international partners, and open the CLMV, ASEAN+ and premium European and US food markets
- Expand into the CLMV and ASEAN+ markets
- Business matching with international food-industry partners
- Elevate Thai food brands into premium European and US markets
- Goal: bring Thai startups onto the world stage, sustainably
Our Belief
From Thai Potential to Global Opportunity
Because we believe Thai ingredients have value, Thai wisdom has a story, and Thai innovation has potential — Thai Kitchen turns that potential into products, businesses and real market opportunities
Craft the Innovation. Accelerate the Growth.
Let us build the future of Thai food together