Seedlab Australia has announced that Kenna MacTavish will step into the role of Managing Director as co-founder Dr Hazel MacTavish-West steps back from the CEO position and continues with the organisation as Finance Director and mentor.

The transition marks a significant milestone for Seedlab Australia, the FMCG business program that has helped hundreds of Australian and New Zealand founders build retail-ready businesses across food, beverage, personal care, home care and pet care.

Since launching nationally in 2021, Seedlab Australia has supported more than 600 founders, with participants generating more than $38 million in sales through Woolworths. The program evolved from Seedlab Tasmania, a pilot initiative established in 2020 following Hazel’s Churchill Fellowship, which explored food innovation, value-added products and opportunities for Australian agri-food businesses.

Over the years, Seedlab has supported emerging and growing brands including Bippi, Fix & Fogg, Urban Forager, Nibblish, Vutcher and Bask & Co, helping founders strengthen the commercial foundations needed to navigate an increasingly complex FMCG landscape, and engage more confidently with retail opportunities.

For Dr MacTavish-West, the leadership transition follows a period of significant personal and professional change, including the sudden loss of her husband and Seedlab co-founder Darren West 18 months ago.

“Throughout the past 18 months, Kenna’s role, capacity and capability have grown consistently and brilliantly. Now is her time to shine, and now is my time to step back from leadership and take more time for myself and my life,” said Dr MacTavish-West.

Kenna MacTavish has been central to Seedlab Australia’s growth, moving through the business from marketing and program delivery into the role of Chief Operating Officer, before now stepping into Managing Director.

She said the next phase of Seedlab will be focused on visibility, community and helping more founders understand what it takes to build a resilient FMCG business.

“Seedlab needs to become more visible. Not in a marketing sense; our founders know we exist, and so do the retailers we work with. But there are still thousands of FMCG founders across Australia and New Zealand who are figuring it out alone, making avoidable mistakes and spending money they don’t have on support that isn’t right for them. They don’t know Seedlab exists, and that has to change,” said Ms MacTavish.

Ms MacTavish said Seedlab’s alumni story will become increasingly central to its future.

“The founders who’ve been through Bootcamp, Cultivate or Propagate and come out the other side with a thriving brand are the proof of concept. We’re just starting to tell those stories properly, and I think there’s a whole chapter there that we haven’t written yet,” she said.

Seedlab’s programs support founders at different stages of growth, from Bootcamp, its early-stage program focused on foundational FMCG knowledge, to Cultivate, its tailored accelerator supporting founders as they prepare for retail growth, and Propagate, which helps more advanced businesses strengthen and scale.

A major focus under Ms MacTavish’s leadership will be expanding Seedlab’s community-building initiatives, including Seedlab Shelf Life, an in-person event series designed to bring founders together beyond the structured program environment.

“The program structure is incredibly important, but some of the most valuable moments I’ve witnessed at Seedlab have been completely unplanned. Two founders in a room comparing notes on retailer negotiations, or someone receiving a supplier introduction from another participant that changes everything for them. I want to build more of those moments,” said Ms MacTavish.

Dr MacTavish-West said Ms MacTavish’s creativity and digital fluency make her the right person to lead Seedlab into its next stage.

“Kenna is a wonderfully capable, deep-thinking, curious, caring and committed person. She has a very different background to me, and that’s exactly what Seedlab needs now,” said Dr MacTavish-West.

Ms MacTavish said she is excited to lead Seedlab with the same values Hazel built into the organisation from the beginning, values that have underpinned Seedlab’s long-standing relationship with Woolworths, which has supported the business for the past seven years.

“Mum has built something that is, at its core, about trust and generosity. I don’t think the outside world fully understands yet how rare that is. What excites me most is the founders we haven’t met yet. The next 600, the ones who don’t know we exist yet, the ones making something brilliant in a kitchen, garage or small production facility right now, they’re the ones I’m building for,” said Ms MacTavish.

“As I step into the role of Managing Director, I remain committed to the meaningful partnership Seedlab has built with Woolworths and to helping small businesses develop the supplier capability and confidence they need to navigate increasingly complex retail environments.”