Seedlab Australia has named Jessica Locarnini as the inaugural recipient of the Churchill Fellowship, supporting her work to build a national framework for honey sensory education, expert training and competition judging in Australia.
The Fellowship marks a milestone for Seedlab Australia founder Dr Hazel MacTavish-West, whose own Churchill Fellowship in 2017 helped shape the thinking behind Seedlab Australia, an independent FMCG business program supporting Australian and New Zealand founders across food, beverage, personal care, home care and pet care.
Subsequently, the program MacTavish-West went on to build is now supporting another Australian to travel, learn from global leaders and bring new knowledge home to strengthen a valuable Australian industry.
Locarnini will travel overseas to learn from leading international organisations and explore how Australia can develop its own pathway for training honey sensory experts and judges, using Australian honey and reflecting the needs of the local industry.
For MacTavish-West, supporting the Fellowship is a natural extension of her career.
“Churchill Fellowships are incredibly powerful because they give people the chance to think bigger, to think strategically, and to really dig deep into a topic that is of interest to them and to others,” she said.
“Experience has taught me that Fellows go on to create great things for Australia as a result.
“My own Fellowship had a profound impact on my career and ultimately helped shape the thinking behind Seedlab Australia. To now support Jessica as she builds knowledge that can benefit Australia’s honey industry is particularly special.”
Locarnini first discovered honey sensory analysis in 2018 after enrolling in a course in the US. She later completed all levels of Italy’s honey sensory analysis training, became the first Australian admitted to the Italian Register of Honey Experts, trained with the American Honey Show Training Council, and now judges competitions across Australia.
Through the Fellowship, Locarnini hopes to create the kind of learning pathway she once had to travel overseas to access.
“I’m incredibly honoured to be named the inaugural recipient of the Seedlab Australia Churchill Fellowship,” said Locarnini.
“I’ve been quietly working to build honey sensory and judging knowledge and capability in Australia for the past eight years, so to have organisations like Seedlab Australia and the Churchill Trust recognise the potential of this work and what it could mean for the Australian honey industry means so much.”
MacTavish-West said Locarnini’s project reflects the kind of knowledge-sharing and capability-building Seedlab was created to support.
“So much of what we do at Seedlab is about helping people access knowledge they didn’t know they needed, and surrounding them with people who can help them grow,” MacTavish-West explained.
“Jessica’s project has that same generosity at its heart. It is not just about one person travelling overseas and learning something new. It is about bringing that knowledge back, sharing it, and creating something that other people in the honey industry can benefit from.”
According to MacTavish-West, sensory understanding is an important but often under-recognised part of food and beverage innovation.
“For food and beverage businesses, the way a product tastes, smells, feels and is understood can shape how it is valued, judged and remembered,” she added.
“Honey is such a rich and distinctive Australian product, and Jessica’s Fellowship has the potential to help more people understand, describe and celebrate that difference.”
Seedlab Australia’s support of the Churchill Fellowship forms part of its broader commitment to strengthening Australia’s food and beverage ecosystem, not only by supporting founders via its programs, but by backing ideas that can create lasting value for industries and communities.
“I am excited to see where Jessica’s travels and conversations lead her, and to play whatever part I can to help her make the most of this opportunity for the honey industry, for Australia, and for her own career,” MacTavish-West concluded.
Applications for the 2027 Churchill Fellowships open in February and are available to Australians and permanent residents over 18 years of age.
