About Us
About Craft Collective
Innovation Lab
Powered by a talented team of seasoned industry and brand specialists, Craft Collective is South Africa’s first integrated Food, Beverage & Hospitality Innovation Lab. We fuse research-driven strategy, purposeful design, and hands-on product development to help brands launch, scale, and re-imagine everything from functional snacks to boutique hotel experiences. Wherever food, drink, and guest journeys intersect, we co-create solutions that are commercially sound, creatively bold, and built for lasting impact.
Craft Collective Innovation Lab
Our Mission
To empower food, beverage, and hospitality visionaries to turn bold ideas into market-leading experiences. We champion sustainable growth and breakthrough innovation by blending data-driven strategy, purposeful design, and collaborative product development—cultivating a creative, entrepreneurial ecosystem where excellence thrives.
Craft Collective Innovation Lab
Our Vision
To empower locally rooted yet globally ambitious food, beverage, and hospitality brands to set new benchmarks for quality, innovation, and responsible growth. As an integrated Innovation Lab, we ignite this evolution by fusing research, strategy, design, and product development into one seamless engine—transforming bold ideas into world-class guest and consumer experiences.
Craft Collective Innovation Lab
Our Values
Integrity · Excellence · Innovation · Collaboration · Impact
These principles drive every project at Craft Collective. They guide us in delivering best-in-class strategy, design, and product solutions while creating positive ripple effects across the food, beverage, and hospitality landscape—locally and worldwide.
Craft Collective Innovation Lab
Our Team
Tara Drake
In her role as Executive Director & Lead Consultant, Tara brings a unique blend of expertise to the table. With qualifications as a chef, experience as a food entrepreneur, and a decade-long tenure as a Food and Beverage consultant, her multifaceted background shapes the vision of Craft Collective Innovation Lab. Tara’s unwavering passion for the industry fuels our pursuit of innovation and excellence.
Lee Drake
Drawing on decades of experience in hospitality entrepreneurship, Lee serves as our Strategic Business Consultant, offering a wealth of business insight and strategic acumen. His seasoned expertise ensures that our services and strategies are meticulously crafted to align with business objectives and deliver tangible results.
Joie Isaacs
Joie, as the Head Researcher and Project Manager, utilising her psychology degree focused on social sciences, ensures we are always on top of industry and consumer trends, with unique insights into behaviours and motivations that impact the food & beverage landscape. Joie also ensures the administrative aspect of our operations runs smoothly.
Carmi O'Connell
Carmi is your go-to creative, tapping into her educational background in Visual Communication. Fueled by curiosity she produces conceptual masterpieces that strike a chord. Supported by a collaborative team, Carmi effortlessly blends strategic thinking into her creative pursuits, guaranteeing that each project reaches its peak potential.
Why Choose Craft Collective?
Category Specialists, End-to-End Thinkers
Our strategists, designers, chefs, and hospitality operators bring deep, hands-on expertise across food, beverage, and guest experience. From market entry blueprints and brand makeovers to contract manufacturing and hotel activation, we connect every dot between concept and commercial success.
Insight-Led, Creativity-Fueled
We pair rigorous market intelligence with fearless creative thinking, ensuring every recommendation is both analytically sound and culturally magnetic—so your brand doesn’t just launch, it lands.
Collaborative by Design
You’re not a passenger; you’re a co-pilot. We embed your team in the process, transferring knowledge and building capability so momentum continues long after each project wraps.
Proven Impact
Whether tripling a snack brand’s retail reach or elevating a coastal hotel’s ADR, our work delivers measurable growth and lasting guest or consumer loyalty.
Future-Focused
Sustainability, scalability, and global relevance shape everything we craft. Partner with us to transform bold ideas into world-class experiences—today and for what’s next.
Our Clients
