Helping Brands land in the UK & Australia

Welcome to Backpacker Ventures - FMCG brand growth advisors based in Sydney, Melbourne and London.

BRAND VENTURES

Backpacker Ventures is a collective of commercial and creative minds based in the UK and Australia. We help challenger consumer brands travel, providing the local know-how and hands-on support.

We're led by a Brit and an Aussie with first-hand experience of operating successfully in each market. Backpacker was created to bring together our knowledge and networks to help brands go further and faster.

We provide an on-demand advisory service, market assessment and accelerator programmes, longer-term partnering and venturing support.

INTELLIGENT INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION

A global brand building strategy is, in reality, a local plan for each market. One brand, local footprints.

In new markets, the challenge isn’t just about logistics, distribution, or awareness. It’s ensuring that the essence of the brand—the thing that resonated with people in the first place—lands just as powerfully in a new cultural context.

Backpacker can help build international sales, with a keen eye on long-term value creation.

Why Work with Us?

We're led by a Brit and an Aussie. So that's a promising start.

Over the years we have been marketing directors, distributors, founders, advisors and investors. We've worked for brands such as Oatly, Fever-Tree, Green & Black’s, Nando's and Pret A Manger.

With expertise and networks spanning both the UK and Australia, we’re well-placed to help you navigate market nuances, position your brand for maximum impact and to develop the right operating model and team for each region. We can draw on trusted relationships and connect you with best-in-class suppliers, distributors, marketing agencies and retailers.

We provide all the standard services you'd expect from a market expansion consultant - market strategy, audits, sizing, retail planning, distributor recommendations, and category reviews. Alongside this, we embrace the entrepreneurial spirit, forward-thinking ethos, disruptive ideas and brand values that made a company successful in the first place.

We work closely alongside you and are here for the journey.

Areas We Cover

Market and Category Analysis

We help clients understand the local market dynamics including a review of their target category. This typically includes market size, channel overviews, pricing, margin and competitor analysis. As part of this we will highlight any salient macro trends and notable challenges around compliance and regulatory matters.

Brand Positioning

We work closely with you to review your brand’s existing positioning and provide strategic recommendations to ensure it resonates locally. We avoid unnecessary reinvention, focusing instead on tweaking your message to fit the cultural, consumer, and trade dynamics of each market.

Business Model and Financials

Based on a clear understanding of your objectives, we explore business model choices and create customized P&L scenarios, offering clarity on the likely investment required and the expected returns. We look at product, channel, and business partner decisions to ensure your financials are as solid as your strategy.

Go-to-Market Plan

Once we’ve agreed on the local strategic approach, we develop the full plan to make it happen. From local operational structures and skill-building to retailer engagement and consumer activation, we make sure everything is in place to drive success. We can connect you with the right industry partners, ensuring your go-to-market strategy is both smooth and impactful.

Ongoing Brand Stewardship

The majority of our assignments involve an initial phase of hands-on strategy and planning work. This intimate knowledge leaves us with a good foundation to support clients as retained advisors on their international growth journey.

We bring first-hand experience guiding iconic international brands

WAYS OF WORKING WITH US

Our flexible on-demand advisory services give you expert counsel, market insights, brand planning and introductions whenever you need support. Pay as you go or project based. Our Market & Category Snapshots are fast-paced, workshop-style sessions to help get you started. Available for the Australian or UK market.

Contact Backpacker

Our bespoke services for clients wanting in-market support. Backpacker can play an active role as you move towards launch, helping put together the right operating model, including retailer engagement and consumer activation plans. For brands already working with a distributor, we can help scale your local efforts with strategic planning and brand activation support.

Contact Backpacker

We connect brand owners with investment partners and, where it aligns, take a more direct role ourselves. This is for brands seeking more than financial backing and advice—they want partners who understand their brand, market, and vision, and have firsthand experience building ventures themselves.

Contact Backpacker

Backpacker is the ventures division of founder + future, brand growth advisors based in Sydney, Melbourne and London.