COMMUNITY FOOD PROCESSING FACILITIES Debi Kelly Horticulture/Local Foods Specialist Crystal Weber Community Development Specialist University of Missouri Extension
Let’s Look at Some Key issues…. • What food entrepreneurs need • How we define food • Kitchen examples • Food enterprise models to consider • Resources
Food Business Needs • Business Knowledge • Business Plan Assistance • Product Sourcing • Logistics • Scaling-up • Pricing • Marketing • Consumers
• Opportunities • Market Entry • Aggregation
• Built Infrastructure Processing Facilities • Office Space & Equipment • Loading Docks • Dry Storage • Cold Storage
• Kitchen Space • Prep Areas • Flash Freezing • Canners
How we define food Production • Production Practices • Certified Organic • Grass-fed
• Consumer Labels • Sustainable • Locally Grown
• Nutrition Food Labels • 100% Whole Wheat • Sugar-free
How we define food Aggregation • Aggregation Points • drop off/pick up points for processing & distribution
Aggregation example
• Location to increase
Dairy industry
consistency in the supply chain • • • • • •
Grading Processing Packaging Ordering Shipping Billing
• Businesses built on dairy
aggregation. • Product is aggregated, processed, packaged in a uniform manner and distributed to retailers/wholesalers
How we define food Incubator Kitchen Start-up assistance to food entrepreneurs: • Kitchen facilities for
usage that meet various levels of government regulation • Guidance in commercial food processing • Business skills development and educational supports
Commonly Provide: • Low start-up costs
• Office workspace &
limited office equipment • Interaction with other food entrepreneurs
How we define food Commercial Kitchen A food facility incorporating: • Kitchen Layout • storage, prep, cooking and cleaning stations
• Cooking Ventilation Systems • Fire Mitigation Systems • Environmental Health Regulations • Employee hand washing stations • Commercial-grade water and waste water systems
Commercial Kitchen is: a food processing facility used to prepare food for sale to the public utilizing commercial-size equipment
How we define food Inspected Kitchen
Inspected Kitchen a food service kitchen meeting the environmental health requirements of a municipal, county, state or federal regulatory agency
How we define food Community & Shared-Use Kitchen Community Kitchen and/or Shared-Use Kitchen • Kitchen facility available to multiple users • Possibly on an assigned schedule
How we define food Co-packer
Co-Packer
• A contracted processing
facility that manufactures and packages food products, per clients specifics for clients that are unable to invest in production and packaging facilities
Commonly provide: A way for businesses to process and package products to scale without having to invest in any equipment and with limited processing knowledge.
How we define food Food Enterprise Center
Food Enterprise Center: Often incorporates components of a kitchen incubator, a public market place and a wholesale market in one location.
How we define food Food Hub
Food Hub
• Business or organization
that actively manages the aggregation, distribution and marketing of sourceidentified food products from local and regional producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail and institutional demand.
Commonly provide: An outlet for very small, small and medium sized producers that currently lack access to retail, institutional and commercial food markets as a result of the food system’s larger infrastructure.
Community Food Processing Facilities: Ennovation Center, Independence, MO ennovationcenter.com 8,000 ft² inspected commercial kitchen facility with 5 independent kitchens Former hospital that was repurposed as a business incubator with kitchen and wet labs Partnership between the City of Independence, Independence School District and Independence Economic Development Council Business counseling, workshops, services, 24/7 access and limited storage available
Community Food Processing Facilities: Farm to Table Kitchen at City Market, Kansas City, MO thecitymarket.org Repurposed retail storefront Single, Inspected Commercial Kitchen, with limited dry storage
At “City Market” farmers’ market Owned by the City of Kansas City, managed by City Market management team No business development assistance at present
Additional Community Food Processing Facilities Appalachian Center for Economic Networks, Athens, OH acenetworks.org Business Incubator • Community Food Hub • 12,000ft² food processing facility • Thermal Processing Room • Bakery • Freezing Room • 3,200ft² dry storage • Product development testing • Business development services
Additional Food Enterprises
Non-Profit and State Models Non-profit driven models: • Red Tomato-Plainville, MA • Virtual fruit and vegetable
aggregation wholesaler and distributor
• State-driven models: • North Carolina Certified Farmers Markets • State certified markets to
increase profile of both state-produced goods and in-state producers to increase consumer confidence in transactions
Additional Food Enterprises
Producer-Driven Models • Good Natured Family Farms • Growers Alliance managed out of Bronson, KS • Aggregates, markets, distributes meats, eggs and vegetables from growers in a multi-state region near Kansas City • Markets and arrange transportation for dairy and fruit growers in multi-state region near Kansas City • All products marketed under the ‘GNFF’ label
Additional Community Food Processing Facilities
Hybrid & Virtual Models Hybrid Models:
Virtual Models:
• Eastern Market-Detroit, MI • A retail farmers market, value-added processing and wholesale food marketing businesses
• Market Maker • Various state departments of agriculture and land-grant universities manage wholesale marketing and transactions
Additional Financial Resources Federal Financing Opportunities • USDA Agricultural Marketing
Services (AMS) • Farmers Market Promotion Program
(FMPP) • Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program
• USDA Rural Development (RD) • • • •
Community Facilities Loans & Grants Business Programs Loans & Grants Value-added Producer Grant (VAPG) Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) • Rural Business Opportunity Grant (RBOG)
• USDA Food and Nutrition
Service
• USDA National Institute of Food &
Agriculture (NIFA) • Small Business Innovation Research • Community Food Projects
• USDA Sustainable Agriculture
Research & Education (SARE) • Farmer & Rancher; Research & Education;
Professional Development; Youth
• US Small Business Administration
(SBA)
Additional Financial Resources State & Local Financing Opportunities State Financing Missouri Department of Agriculture www.mda.mo.gov • Agribusiness Revolving Loan • Alternative Loan • Beginning Farmer Loan • Value-added Loan Guarantee • New Generation Cooperative Incentive Tax Credits • Wine & Grape Production Tax Credit • Local Foods Matching Grant • Value-added Grant • Specialty Crop Block Grant
Local Financial Institutions Banks Foundations Investors
Additional Resources • Wold, Sancho, Schubert, Wojtacha and Hobbs. Establishing a Shared-use
Commercial Kitchen, Sandy, UT, NxLevel Education Foundation, 2002 • United States Department of Agriculture, Regional Food Hub Resource
Guide. Washington, Government Printing Office, 2012. • Econsult Solutions, Inc., U.S. Kitchen Incubators: An Industry Snapshot.
Philadelphia, 2013. • National Association of Business Incubators www.nbia.org • Good Natured Family Farms www.goodnaturedfamilyfarms.com • Organic Valley
www.organicvalley.coop
• Culinary Incubator
www.culinaryincubator.com
For more information University of Missouri Extension • Debi Kelly
Horticulture/Local Food Specialist kellyd@Missouri.edu; 636-797-5391 • Crystal Weber
Community Development Specialist webercd@Missouri.edu; 816-407-3490 • Letitia ‘Tish’ Johnson
Community Development Specialist johnsonlk@Missouri.edu; 573-445-9792