So many exciting things are happening in the shared kitchen world and we want to bring you our news roundup. While we select stories to share in our monthly newsletter, we just don’t have space for them all!
Shared Kitchen News Roundup
Pilotworks closes leaving food businesses without kitchens
On October 13, 2018, food business incubator, Pilotworks abruptly shut down, leaving hundreds without kitchen space to continue operations. You can read more about what happened here and here.
Looking to get involved or help? If you have kitchen space available, make sure your listing is updated on The Kitchen Door. Then, check out the opportunities to support these stranded businesses here and join the Support Independent Food Forum and the new Slack channel CPG Monthly, both created to communicate with food businesses in need.
Also in response, our friends at PieShell and OurHarvest are launching a crowdfunding project on PieShell to provide short-term emergency funding to the approximately 175 companies that were Pilotworks members to keep them in business. Each of these companies have not only lost rent money and inventory, but they’re now being forced to pay for emergency production facilities, refrigeration, and distribution just to try and stay in business.
Sharing is not only caring, it is also practical
Starting a restaurant is costly. That’s why our newest client, Kitchen United is aiming to lower the barriers to entry through renting commercial space, providing access to equipment, and providing labor support. All starting at $25 per hour. They’ll even do your dishes.
Read all about it here: How 6 restaurant brands cut costs by sharing kitchen space – Fast Casual
Access > Ownership. The trend continues
Trends in delivery are beginning to leak into the distributed kitchen model. And inveestors are putting their money where their mouths are. Both Kitchen United and CloudKitchens are taking the lead in funding. But watch for sleeping giants.
Learn more about it here: The next big restaurant chain may not own any kitchens – TechCrunch
New investment for Eastern Market’s commercial kitchens
We are excited to see JPMorgan Chase investing $150 million to Detroit’s Eastern Market. The funding will help the market create two new cost-controlled kitchens for small businesses that have outgrown smaller available spaces. Our client, Eastern Market supports hundreds of food business in Michigan.
Read more here: JPMorgan Chase invests $1M in Eastern Market’s commercial kitchens
Have a resource or story you’d like to share? Let us know!
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