While launching their own businesses, food entrepreneurs
Jo Coleman and
Cassandra Morrison, found that one of the biggest challenges they faced was location, location, location. The two of them struggled with processing all the overhead costs and stress that goes into owning your own commercial kitchen: Purchasing or leasing space, construction, equipment, inspections, and so much more. Do we need to actually say it? Bad economy...blah blah blah...down sizing...blah blah blah. It's enough to make you run away, covering your ears while screaming. But after some research,
Jo and
Cassandra discovered a new type of kitchen space that is changing the way food entrepreneurs do business.
Their discovery: Incubator Kitchens. Incubator kitchens, also called shared-use kitchens, are fully licensed commercial kitchens owned by a private owner but are available to local food entrepreneurs for hourly rental. The result is a quicker and more efficient way to take products from the kitchen, to the market, to the masses. Incubator kitchens provide food business owners a convenient location to test, prepare, and package their food before going to market.
Of course, the responsibility of research and knowledge still falls heavily on the food business owner. Research your area for shared-use kitchens available to you. Know what resources are available to you and your business through the kitchen itself. For instance, does your kitchen provide information on local farmer's markets? Or does your kitchen host classes where you can learn new recipes or techniques? How about networking opportunities? These bonuses are offered by many incubator kitchens because the kitchens and the food entrepreneurs that use them are both dependent upon each other.
Fortunately, in recent years we have seen incubator kitchens pop up all over the country. And even better news, most of these fully licensed kitchens are regulated by state/county Health Departments, and during registration let you know the exact individual licenses and forms you will need in order to start booking and using the kitchen.
After all their research,
Jo and
Cassandra designed
The Culinary Studio in a way that provides vital resources and networking needed to give food entrepreneurs the upper edge over their competition. They want you to expand and grow your business and they are dedicated to their kitchen clientele.
The Culinary Studio is Metro-Detroit's first shared-use kitchen and is now open for bookings.
For more information or to reserve a kitchen visit
The Culinary Studio.
