In our work thus far, we have found the most common characteristics that make up a kitchen incubator business model to be the mission that drives it, the basic structure and services provided, the type of clients it serves, the pricing model, and valuable offerings such as storage and business services. The key ingredients: kitchen incubator business models Also, The New Food Economy’s excellent Incubator Week series is a must read for anyone interested in learning more. Anyone interested in kitchen incubators should check out ESI’s 2016 report to gain a more in-depth understanding of the landscape. While we have highlighted a sampling of incubators throughout this post, and have flagged some trends we’ve seen in our work thus far, this is certainly not an exhaustive assessment of the 200+ incubators that exist nationwide. If you are operating or supporting a kitchen incubator and have thoughts and expertise to share, we’d love to hear from you … How have you structured your incubator? What is most challenging? What has been most successful? What advice do you have for people or communities interested in developing one? Econsult Solutions, Inc (ESI) along with American Communities Trust and Urbane Development conducted a survey assessing the landscape of U.S. And for anyone already running a kitchen incubator, we hope this post spurs you to consider other services you might incorporate and ways to address the challenges you may be facing. We hope the research we’ve conducted helps you understand the types of questions to look into as you develop the right business model. Perhaps you are considering whether or not a kitchen incubator might be right for your community. This post describes the many different ways they can be structured and some of the common challenges they face. We have learned a lot from our research on kitchen incubators. As goes the popular statement heard at NGFN’s 2016 Food Hub Conference, “If you’ve seen one food hub, you’ve seen one food hub.” It’s much the same with kitchen incubators. Sounds simple right? Recently, we’ve worked on several projects with a kitchen incubator component, and we can assure you it is anything but simple. These incubators allow entrepreneurs to be in business without having to secure and pay for their own commercial kitchen space – an expense that would be prohibitive for most. Small, but not simpleįor many of us, when we picture a kitchen incubator, we think of a certified, fully equipped commercial kitchen that food entrepreneurs can rent on an hourly basis to produce their goods. According to the National Business Incubation Association, 87% of businesses that have graduated from an incubation program are still in business within five years, versus 50% of those that have not had this support. Regardless of which came first, kitchen incubators have undoubtedly helped to sustain the rise of specialty products, making it significantly easier and less expensive for aspiring entrepreneurs to enter the market. In a classic chicken or egg problem, this explosion of small food businesses was either fueled by or paved the way for the evolution and growth of the kitchen incubator. In fact, as I write this I am enjoying a “ Real Dill Bloody Mary” whose spectacular mix is made right here in Denver. We are now flooded with artisan products (or specialty, local, small batch – insert your favorite food movement here!) and have unparalleled access to unique food trucks and food services - and I think we are all better off for it. Since then, the food landscape has evolved pretty dramatically. Ten years ago, the kitchen incubator was a novel concept.
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