In the ever-evolving world of food entrepreneurship, shared kitchens have become true champions of culinary creativity, community building, and local economic growth. Every year across North America, countless dreamers step into these kitchens, roll up their sleeves, and bring their business ideas to life. By offering flexible access to professional kitchens, these facilities reduce the startup costs that typically hinder new food businesses, sparking innovation and opening doors to more equitable opportunities for entrepreneurship.
Operating behind the scenes, shared and incubator kitchens are the backbone that so many entrepreneurs and farmers rely on to craft the delicious, safe, and diverse food products we all enjoy. These kitchens enhance the food safety, quality, and efficiency of small-scale food production, helping startups flourish, create jobs, and make lasting contributions to their local economies.
Since our first edition of the Shared Kitchen Toolkit in 2018, so much has changed in the industry. The global pandemic, a boom in delivery platforms, rising consumer demand for unique food experiences, increased labor and construction costs, and the broader embrace of the sharing economy have reshaped the landscape. All through it, the resilience and adaptability of the shared kitchen community have been nothing short of inspiring. Our latest survey of operators, conducted in Fall 2023, shows an industry that is not just surviving but thriving. New kitchens are opening, existing ones expanding, and more and more are finding their path to profitability and social impact. This growth is a testament to the incredible spirit of the kitchen founders we serve and the communities that support them.
To reflect these shifts, we’ve carefully updated this second edition of the Shared Kitchen Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Planning, Launching, and Managing a Shared Commercial Kitchen to help kitchen operators thrive in today’s dynamic environment. This collaborative effort between The Food Corridor and Fruition Planning & Management is generously supported by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Northwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center. Drawing on the wisdom of a host of experienced kitchen operators and food system advisors, this edition is designed to address the evolving challenges of today’s shared kitchen operators. From navigating complex regulations to securing vital funding to managing risk, this Toolkit offers actionable strategies and practical examples that empower new and experienced operators to succeed. Whether you’re opening a new kitchen or scaling an existing one, this Toolkit equips you with the knowledge and information needed to succeed.
Over the past six years, the shared kitchen industry has continued to grow and diversify. We’ve seen the rise of specialized models like ghost kitchens and Tribal-led kitchens, while incubator and community kitchens have expanded their reach. We celebrate this diversity throughout the Toolkit, recognizing that there is no “one-size-fits-all” kitchen model. Instead, we highlight the importance of tailoring kitchen services to meet the unique needs of the communities they serve. Additionally, based on community feedback, we now use the term “members” more frequently to describe kitchen users, reflecting the growing trend toward membership-based models.
What’s New
The Toolkit brings a treasure trove of new and revised content, organized into 23 comprehensive chapters. The second edition dives deeper into emerging kitchen models, reflecting the industry’s innovation. It offers enhanced guidance on pricing models, facility design, member recruitment, staffing, and financial planning, along with expanded branding and marketing strategies tailored to today’s digital landscape. These chapters are designed to be a reference that operators can return to throughout the life cycle of their kitchen to gain new ideas for solving everyday challenges and refining management systems.
This second edition, packed with new and expanded content, offers fresh insights into critical areas such as:
- Pricing Models and Member Services: Learn how to create competitive rates, develop membership plans, and offer value-added services that enhance member satisfaction.
- Member Recruitment and Retention: Discover strategies for onboarding and managing members that help ensure long-term success.
- Facility Design and Equipment: Explore kitchen layouts and specialized storage solutions to support a wide range of culinary needs.
- Contracts, Risk Management, and Insurance: Navigate risk with expanded guidance on contracts and insurance to protect both operators and members.
- Branding and Marketing: Build a strong brand and connect with today’s digital consumers through effective marketing strategies.
We’ve added a special chapter of crowdsourced “Keys to Success” (Chapter 18)—practical advice from experienced operators to help you grow your kitchen and make a meaningful impact on your community. New case studies on Alchemist Kitchen (Chapter 19) and Fork Food Lab (Chapter 20) are included, along with checklists, sample forms, and real-world models to guide you step-by-step through the process of planning, launching, and managing a shared kitchen.
Additionally, new in this edition is “NICK Nuggets” (insider tips from the Network for Incubator and Commissary Kitchens), expert interviews, and data bites from the 2023 Shared Kitchen Operator Survey (Chapter 21), offering valuable insights to help guide your research, programs, or grant writing. For quick reference, a comprehensive Index (Chapter 22) allows you to easily search by term or topic and navigate the Toolkit efficiently. And finally, our updated References section (Chapter 23) provides further reading and hyperlinks for easy exploration.
Our mission remains unchanged: to provide you with the tools and knowledge to thrive in this fastchanging industry and to celebrate the remarkable role shared kitchens play in enriching food systems and communities. Together, let’s continue this exciting journey of growth, discovery, and culinary entrepreneurship, ensuring that shared kitchens remain at the heart of local food innovation and collaboration for years to come.
