Growing a food business is a lot easier when you have affordable access to a commercial kitchen!
Many budding food businesses: from homemade ice-cream to farmer’s market hot food providers have contacted us for help finding commercial kitchen space as their businesses have grown.
In addition, food entrepreneurs have recognized the need for a commercial kitchen for rent to host these small businesses, caterer over-flow, event hosting, and more.
While there isn’t a commercial kitchen for rent yet, local food producers do have options:
- Stay Small: Produce at home (if applicable under the Cottage Food laws)
- Go Local: Find a kitchen-share with a restaurant, church or community center
- Get Around: Rent space at a nearby commercial kitchen facility like The Hood Kitchen Space in Costa Mesa
- Go big: raise capital and open your own commercial kitchen (contact the Long Beach Small Business Development Center for access to capital)
Goals:
- Demonstrate a strong market for a commercial kitchen for rent like the 4th Street Market’s Incubator Kitchens or the Hood Kitchen in Costa Mesa
- Assist any entrepreneur looking to start a commercial kitchen for rent
What We Need:
- A dedicated entrepreneurial team looking to create a commercial kitchen space
- Leads on buildings, equipment, relationships and underutilized kitchen space to begin activating for this purpose
Latest Status:
- 9/1/14 Many food entrepreneurs and businesses have expressed this. We are working with them to help so keep sending resources and connections our way
- 10/2/14 Ryan Smolar will be touring the Hood Kitchen Space in Costa Mesa
- 11/28/14 Local maker space, “MADE in Long Beach” (236 Pine Ave.), opens with space and ambitions to potentially host an incubator kitchen
- 1/1/15 Declared a “hit,” the Made in Long Beach space signs a lease and expands, boasting over 90 local producers and monthly events. Follows through on looking at installing incubator kitchen space.
- 2/16/15 East End Incubator Kitchens open at the 4th Street Market food complex in nearby Santa Ana. Offers $20/per hour rate for community/low-income projects that qualify
- 5/1/15 MADE in Long Beach continues to press forward with incubator kitchen space, looking for investment and potential partnerships
- 5/11/15 MADE in Long Beach launches a campaign through Localfund to crowdfund their incubator kitchens and launch of Market at MADE.
Resources:
- 4th Street Market Incubator Kitchens
- The Hood in Costa Mesa
- “Commercial Kitchen” search on Long Beach Craigslist
- Culinary Incubator Map of commercial kitchens
Get Involved:
Read the latest status, think about how you want to get involved, and contact us.