Culinary incubators sit in an interesting space between commercial kitchens and incubator programs, and are helping to bridge the gap between self-production and moving to a co-manufacturer. They often provide access to expensive kitchen equipment, business services, and mentorship — and there are more and more of them popping up across the nation. Here’s a quick list of today’s players (listed by state):
Note: Originally published on October 30, 2016. The current publication date reflects the last time the list was updated.
| LA Prep | Los Angeles | CA | Provides full-time production space for wholesale food producers. |
| La Cocina | San Francisco | CA | Incubator kitchen working to cultivate low income food entrepreneurs by providing affordable kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities. |
| KITCHENTOWN | San Mateo | CA | Food startup incubator that provides production space, equipment, and the opportunity to interact with a community of like-minded peers, industry experts, and investors in order to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses. |
| Kitchen Coop | Broomfield | CO | provides co-manufacturing services, plus technical, business and sales consulting to help food and beverage companies grow. |
| Union Kitchen | Washington | DC | Kitchen incubator providing production space, distribution services, and mentorship. Also helps launch other culinary incubators, like B-More Kitchen in Baltimore. As of July 2017, reducing footprint and increasing investment (see above). |
| PREP | Atlanta | GA | Half of their 15,000 SQF space is dedicated to food trucks; they also offer business acceleration services. |
| The Hatchery | Chicago | IL | Planned; intends to bring education, capital, and support to the Chicagoland food entrepreneur community. |
| Kickstart Kitchen | Covington | IL | Shared use commercial kitchen and business mentoring. |
| LSU AgCenter Food Incubator | Baton Rouge | LA | Business incubator that specializes in developing emerging food ventures and providing technical services to existing and emerging companies. |
| New Orleans Food & Farm Network | New Orleans | LA | Working to build the local food economy in greater New Orleans by increasing markets for farmers, incubating farms, and training new farmers. |
| CommonWealth Kitchen | Dorchester | MA | Commercial kitchen helping to grow established businesses by providing large volume production equipment, business assistance, marketing, and access to capital. |
| B-More Kitchen | Baltimore | MD | “Baltimore’s first food incubator,” B-More Kitchen was launched with the help of Union Kitchen |
| Flint Food Works | Flint | MI | “low-cost, low-risk, full-service kitchens for local businesses to grow and establish their operations” |
| Maker-to-Market | Minneapolis | MN | The Lakewinds Food Co-op and The Good Acre have partnered to create this incubator in order to support fresh, local healthy food by helping food entrepreneurs turn their products into retail-ready goods. |
| Ennovation Center | Independence | MO | Commercial kitchen co-working space and business technologies area with office and lab space. |
| Blue Ridge Food Ventures | Asheville | NC | 11,000 sqf shared-use kitchen and natural products manufacturing facility |
| Midway Community Kitchen | Chapel Hill | NC | Midway offers Classes, Workshops, Seminars, Cook Book Club, Intensives, Skills Training, Basics Series, Team Building, Pop Ups, Markets, Kitchen Rental and Event Space |
| The Cookery | Durham | NC | Culinary incubator and event venue. |
| PFAP | Hillsborough | NC | Culinary incubator and shared use kitchen. |
| The Kitchen Council | Omaha | NE | planned for 2017 |
| Rutgers Food Innovation Center | Bridgetown | NJ | Food business incubator and economic development accelerator program. |
| Foodworks Brooklyn | Brooklyn | NY | culinary incubator / shared kitchen with locations in Brooklyn and Providence |
| Hotbread Kitchen | New York | NY | Kitchen incubator focused specifically on bakers. |
| Organic Food Incubator | New York | NY | Provides kitchen space, contract manufacturing services, education and coaching to growing food and beverage companies. |
| Athens Food Venture Center (ACEnet) | Athens | OH | Provides equipment and storage; used by ~65 entrepreneurs annually. |
| Commissary Columbus | Columbus | OH | Commercial kitchen with focus on food trucks; also hosts community cooking classes and demonstrations. |
| Food Fort | Columbus | OH | Strategically located in a USDA food desert, Food Fort provides both a commercial kitchen and hands-on technical assistance. |
| Common Wealth Kitchen Incubator | Youngstown | OH | The Common Wealth Kitchen Incubator is a shared-use commercial kitchen; the kitchen incubator will also provide consultants to assist clients with business planning and marketing efforts. |
| Kitchen Kru | Portland | OR | 4800 sqf culinary incubator designed to support culinary inspired entrepreneurs in developing, operating, and growing a successful business. |
| YorKitchen | York | PA | Shared kitchen incubator open 24/7. |
| Hope and Main | Warren | RI | Shared use kitchens and industry-specific technical resources. |
| Foodworks Providence | Providence | RI | culinary incubator / shared kitchen with locations in Brooklyn and Providence |
| Cook’s Nook | Austin | TX | The Cook’s Nook is a culinary incubator providing shared production space and business development for Austin-area artisans, caterers, and cooks |
| Chef Scape | Ashburn | VA | Shared commercial kitchen and business support services. |
| La Cocina | Arlington | VA | Focused on workforce development, La Cocina VA provides culinary training, career certification, and job placement assistance. |
| Vermont Food Venture Center | Fairfax | VT | Shared-use, multi-purpose kitchen incubator for value-added and specialty food producers; equipped for co-packing, too. |
| Watertown Farm Market Kitchen | Watertown | WI | Professional shared-use kitchen and food production facility accessible by the hour. |
Please add TheCoKitchen located in San Marcos, Texas to the list. We are a shared commercial kitchen, incubator outfitted with vending/retail windows for our kitchen members. We also have a co-located mobile food park on site. Website is http://www.thecokitchen.com. We are in-between Austin and San Antonio!
Food Enterprise Economic Development Kichens Madison WI FEED Kitchen
Frontier Kitchen operates 2 kitchen in Northern Virginia…training and coaching available
Catapult in Lakeland, FL – https://catapultlakeland.com/kitchen-incubator/
Findlay Kitchen in Cincinnati, OH!
Kickstart Kitchen in Covington, KY!
Hi Radhika, we’re not aware of a culinary incubator in Seattle, but if you need kitchen space, perhaps check out http://www.ajcommissary.com. Let us now if you’ve learned of any other resources.
Nothing in Seattle Washington?
Hi Radhika, we’re not aware of a culinary incubator in Seattle, but if you need kitchen space, perhaps check out http://www.ajcommissary.com. Let us now if you’ve learned of any other resources.
Please add Chefscape to the list. A shared commercial kitchen, incubator and accelerator, based in Ashburn VA (Northern VA 40 min out of DC) I am one of the founders! website: chefscapekitchen.com and on FB and IG: @Chefscape
Common Wealth Kitchen Incubator in Youngstown, Ohio – https://www.cwkitchenincubator.org/
Added!
The Cook’s Nook, Austin Texas – http://www.cooksnook.net
Added!
Midway Community Kitchen in Chapel Hill, NC! http://www.midwaycommunitykitchen.com/
Thanks, Lindi! Per my previous email, Midway Community Kitchen has been added to the list.
Flint Food Works- http://www.flintfoodworks.com
Thanks, Sean! I’ve added Flint Food Works to the list.