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

• Location to increase consistency in the supply chain

• Grading

• Processing

• Packaging

• Ordering

• Shipping

• Billing

Aggregation example

Dairy industry• Businesses built on dairy

aggregation.

• Product is aggregated, processed, packaged in a uniform manner and distributed to retailers/wholesalers

How we define foodIncubator 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

Commercial Kitchen is:a food processing facility used to

prepare food for sale to the public utilizing commercial-size

equipment

How we define foodCommercial 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

How we define foodInspected Kitchen

Inspected Kitchena food service kitchen meeting the environmental

health requirements of a municipal, county, state

or federal regulatory agency

How we define foodCommunity & Shared-Use Kitchen

Community Kitchen

and/or

Shared-Use Kitchen

• Kitchen facility available to multiple users

• Possibly on an assigned schedule

How we define foodCo-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 foodFood 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 foodFood HubFood Hub

• Business or organization

that actively manages the

aggregation, distribution

and marketing of source-

identified 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.com8,000 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 FacilitiesAppalachian Center for Economic Networks, Athens, OH

acenetworks.orgBusiness 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:

• Eastern Market-Detroit, MI

• A retail farmers market,

value-added processing and

wholesale food marketing

businesses

Virtual Models:

• Market Maker

• Various state departments of

agriculture and land-grant

universities manage

wholesale marketing and

transactions

Additional Financial ResourcesFederal 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 ResourcesState & 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

InstitutionsBanks

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