Community Programming and Services

A shared kitchen can be so much more than a space for food production—it can be a hub for community connection, innovation, and growth. When kitchens expand beyond basic rentals, they unlock opportunities to build stronger local food systems, foster entrepreneurship, and generate additional revenue streams. Community programming and value-added services provide a unique way to engage with both the public and kitchen members, creating an ecosystem where collaboration, education, and economic development thrive.

This chapter dives into the wide range of programming ideas and services that can elevate your kitchen role in the community. From hosting farmers’ markets, pop-up events, and culinary classes to providing food safety training, workforce development, and food access initiatives, shared kitchens have the potential to address local needs while increasing their own sustainability. These activities not only drive revenue but also foster meaningful connections within the community, promote local businesses, and provide much-needed resources like food security programs and job training. Whether you’re aiming to boost your kitchen’s impact or create deeper community ties, these services offer creative ways to use your space, engage new audiences, and support the diverse needs of your kitchen members and the broader community.

Below is a list of some of the most common services shared kitchens use to engage the wider community and create additional revenue streams. Each is discussed in greater detail later in this chapter.

While this chapter offers suggestions, creativity, innovation, and planning are essential in leveraging your space beyond traditional rentals. By positioning your kitchen as a comprehensive hub for food system engagement, your kitchen can build a reputation for exceptional community support and foster long-term loyalty from the community. This multifaceted approach offers additional revenue streams while enhancing the kitchen’s value proposition and market appeal.

Community Dinners

Community dinners are a great way to cultivate relationships, generate buzz, and market your kitchen and members to new audiences. You can host a dinner at your facility if you have the right space and atmosphere or work with community partners to host one off-site. Generally, the public and guests pay for a ticket to attend. They are often themed (cultural, seasonal, social cause), and outside chefs create dishes that are based on the theme. For instance, the Food Innovation Network hosts community dinners to showcase the cultural foods of their local residents and incubator participants. Sometimes, the guests and community members will participate in meal production.

Community dinners require time, planning, and often the help of staff or volunteers. If the meal is offered for free, funding or sponsorship is needed. You will need to set a goal and theme for the event, identify community partners, create a budget and timeline, book the space, market the event to the public, plan and prepare the food, and organize event programming. While time-intensive, community dinners are valuable for integrating your kitchen into the local community. These dinners can be an effective marketing tool for your kitchen and members.

Community dinner theme ideas:

• Dinner and a film screening, presentation, comedic performance, music, or other show
• Dinner and wine, beer or spirits pairing
• Dinner on the farm, with a farm tour
• Harvest celebration events
• Dinner in the dark
• Cultural cuisine
• Food history of the area
• Unique set of ingredients (nightshades, dishes with insects, chocolate pairing, seasonal produce)
• Dinner for a cause (donating proceeds or food to a local nonprofit or having a facilitated discussion on an issue of interest)
• Festive holiday events (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc.)
• Other ideas unique to your community or neighborhood

Moxie Kitchen + Events in Des Moines, IA, is a shared kitchen and event space that hosts community dinners and events year-round. They offer a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen space for monthly or hourly rental and a stylish 1000-square-foot event space. Ideal for cooking classes, cocktail hours, and dinners for up to 50 guests, Moxie provides a modern-themed setting created by chefs and event planners.

Consumer Research

Your facility may be well suited for brands and researchers looking to conduct consumer and sensory science testing for new products and formulations. Kitchen facilities are helpful for research, as food companies and universities need to collect data and insights from real consumers to validate their assumptions and inform their product formulations and market positioning. These services can also be useful to members looking to launch new concepts or perfect new recipes, product lines, or flavors. Consumer research services can become part of the suite of product development services offered by an incubator kitchen, which are discussed further in the Business Incubation Programs chapter.

Research and testing services are most common in food innovation centers and incubators run by colleges and universities that have food science programs. However, collaborations are possible for private and nonprofit kitchens with access to the right expertise. Consider developing relationships with local food science departments and private consumer research firms and let them know that your kitchen is available for research rentals and collaborations.

The Oregon State University Food Innovation Center (FIC) in Portland, OR, offers consumer and sensory testing services for food entrepreneurs and established brands. Services include designing and conducting consumer taste tests, focus groups, interviews, and data analysis. FIC’s innovative Market Research forMarket Readiness (MKTRD) Protocol empowers food entrepreneurs to conduct their own consumer research testing and surveys to gain valuable feedback and validation. The program also offers an extensive set of product development services, including ideation, formulation, processing improvements, shelf life, and food safety and quality analysis.

Culinary Programs and Cooking Classes

Shared kitchens can be an excellent venue for culinary programs run by the community or local high schools and trade schools lacking facilities. Culinary programs can sometimes serve as recurring, or anchor, tenants that commit to paying a set monthly fee for designated blocks of rental time in the kitchen. Because of group size and noise considerations, they often require exclusive use of a kitchen area or classroom. In addition, programs may use a meeting or conference room for instruction.

General cooking classes for consumers are an increasingly popular aspect of shared kitchen programming. Cooking classes can be tailored to special group events, holidays, seasonal produce availability, special diets, ethnic cuisines, special cooking techniques or tools, or themes, like quick and easy weeknight meals or date nights.

Including a teaching or studio kitchen in your facility can help you accommodate both community or chef-hosted cooking classes and culinary programs. While classes can be held in the general production kitchen, instructors may prefer working in a teaching or demo kitchen with an island that allows the attendees to stand around the counter or range for viewing and participation in addition to working at their tablestations. A mounted camera and display screen can enhance the experience by giving everyone a clear view of the action. If you are interested in attracting cooking classes or partnering with a culinary program, you will want to factor these design elements into your kitchen plans. Interview culinary programs and cooking instructors to understand their ideal class size, equipment needs, workflow, preferred setup, and technology requirements. Once you launch, a trial run in the kitchen always helps ensure the day of the event runs smoothly.

For example, HH Artisan Kitchen in Newman, GA, offers cooking classes through a partnership with a group of chefs, providing a variety of themed classes, including kid-friendly options like pizza, gnocchi, and holiday treats, as well as private and team-building events. The kitchen supplies the space, small wares, advertising, and shares cleaning duties, while the chefs provide the ingredients and instruction, with revenue split 60/40 in favor of the chef. With 16 seats per class at $80 each, classes have seen rapid bookings, and the goal is to establish them as a regular monthly feature, filling a gap in the local market.

Event Rentals

Special event rentals can provide a beneficial opportunity to generate additional revenue if your facility has the capacity and atmosphere to function as a venue. Event planners often seek unique, affordable venue for weddings, rehearsal dinners, graduation celebrations, holiday parties, fundraisers, and corporate events. Community members are increasingly interested in booking private cooking classes and tastings for birthday parties, bridal showers, team building, and other gatherings. Engaging your member food businesses in these events can provide them with new catering and sales opportunities. Kitchen members may also want to rent event areas for launch events, cooking classes, focus groups, or pop-up dinners for guests.

If you are developing a new facility with event space, study the market for these uses and survey potential kitchen members about their interest in utilizing event space. Look for opportunities to create flexible indoor and outdoor areas that can be used for events and other revenue-generating activities. Be sure you understand your costs and the market rates in your area to develop a successful fee structure. Consider whether you have the right staff to book and manage events or whether an event planner will be needed. You will likely need to include event rentals in your insurance policy, so plan to discuss this with your

provider. Draft an event contract and review the Policies and Procedures section of this Shared KitchenToolkit to make sure you have thought through all the documents and policies you will need to protect your kitchen.

Nimbus Kitchen in New York City, NY, hosts private dining events as an additional service, allowing food businesses to rent their kitchen and dining space for personalized events. This service includes access to a fully equipped kitchen, customizable dining setups, and support with logistics, such as staffing, event planning, and cleanup. Nimbus allows entrepreneurs to showcase their culinary skills directly to customers while generating extra revenue for the kitchen. This model demonstrates how shared kitchens can diversify services to support food businesses beyond production, creating new revenue streams and customer engagement opportunities.

Farmers’ and Maker Markets

Shared kitchens and farmers’ markets are natural partners. Farmers’ markets increase access to local foods in the community and provide opportunities for sales and consumer feedback for new food businesses. Many entrepreneurs rely on local farmers’ markets, artisan markets, and holiday markets for early sales and marketing.

Farmers’ markets also help kitchen members source local ingredients. Creating relationships between producers and kitchen members can help strengthen the local food system and support the producer and entrepreneur. Members may get fresher produce or meat and locally sourced marketing differentiation, and farms get a new source of demand. Establishing a fair price that supports both the buyer and seller can be the biggest hurdle to developing these local purchasing relationships.

Shared kitchens and incubators can launch their own markets to feature their members and help build a thriving local food economy. Hope & Main in Warren, RI, pairs its incubator kitchen beautifully with year-round market events. From June through October, it hosts the Schoolyard Market, which features dozens of its own food and beverage members and other growers and artisans in the community. The market features various packaged and ready-to-eat products and accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and RI Bonus Bucks. Consumers can also pick up Main Street Meals, a rotating selection of freshly made dinners by incubator participants with a “buy one/give one” program that donates meals to local food-insecure families. Live music, cocktails, and kids’ activities add to the fun. Hope & Main offers indoor Meet Your Maker markets and other special events in the winter months.

Findlay Market, a vibrant public market in Cincinnati, OH, offers diverse food vendors, unique programs, and events. Key initiatives include Findlay Kitchen, an incubator providing access to commercial kitchens and business resources; Findlay Launch, assisting startups with business development; and Findlay Learn, offering educational opportunities for food businesses. These programs aim to foster economic growth and support Findlay Market and its vendors.

Farmers’ markets can advance kitchens’ and communities’ health and nutrition goals by expanding access to fresh local foods and providing a venue for healthy cooking demonstrations and outreach. There may be opportunities to cultivate partnerships with health and nutrition organizations in your community to support these activities and help fund or manage the market. Farmers’ markets can also contribute to neighborhood revitalization and increase foot traffic to surrounding local businesses. However, it is important to consider your area’s existing farmers’ markets to ensure you are not competing directly with those markets. If you are considering adding a farmers’ market to your kitchen strategy, check out the references chapter for more information.

Food Access and Security Programs

Shared kitchens can be integral to a community’s food security and sovereignty. Kitchens can serve as points of access to food benefit programs and direct produce markets for food-insecure households. Just the existence of kitchen infrastructure can increase local food security up and down the supply chain, helping to move food from producers to consumers, as demonstrated by organizations like FEED Kitchens.

FEED Kitchens in Madison, WI hosts a Healthy Food For All community-based food recovery program. They collect excess produce and prepared foods, then clean and repackage this food that would otherwise go to waste. Instead, it is redistributed to food pantries and neighborhoods.

Kitchens may partner with meal preparation and distribution assistance services like Meals on Wheels. Kitchens can also be used for food recovery programs that process excess farm products into food for meal programs and food banks. Another food access program gaining traction nationwide is “prescription produce,” when a medical professional prescribes nutritious foods as medicine, and the patient/consumer receives a discount through third-party organizations such as Wholesome Wave. Eastern Market, a public market and food incubator in Detroit, MI, has a food incubator program that offers food access programs focused on improving access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food in Detroit’s underserved communities. Key initiatives include:

• SNAP/EBT Acceptance: Eastern Market accepts SNAP benefits, making it easier for low-income families to purchase fresh produce.
• Double Up Food Bucks: This program doubles the value of SNAP benefits spent on fruits and vegetables, increasing purchasing power for healthier food choices.
• Eastern Market Farm Stand: A mobile farm stand that brings fresh produce directly to neighborhoods with limited access to grocery stores.
• Fresh Prescription: A program that allows patients to receive prescriptions for fresh produce, which they can redeem at participating farmers’ markets, helping improve health outcomes through diet.

These programs aim to make healthy food more accessible, affordable, and integrated into the community. However, they have their own funding considerations. You will want to work with your partners to develop budgets, funding, staffing plans, and kitchen-sharing models that meet program needs while being sustainable for the kitchen, if applicable. If you are hosting a food access program in your kitchen, you will need to consider if the kitchen will donate space, charge a reduced rate, or offer space at market rates. Ensure you understand your kitchen costs to plan for other revenue or funding sources to balance below-market uses.

Disaster Relief

Natural disasters such as floods, storms, fires, earthquakes, and tsunamis can render an entire community food insecure. Disasters can interrupt traditional distribution channels and underscore the value of local food resources like shared kitchens. Providing a place to prepare and possibly serve large quantities of food in an already commercially licensed space decreases some of the food safety concerns that abound after a natural disaster.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, shared kitchens adapted to support small food businesses and address community needs. They provided a cost-effective way for businesses to continue operations by preparing food for delivery and takeout services, helping many stay afloat amid dining restrictions. Shared kitchens also enabled entrepreneurs to pivot to new business models, such as meal kits, packaged goods, and direct-to-consumer sales, allowing entrepreneurs to reach customers innovatively. These facilities collaborated with nonprofits, community organizations, and local governments to prepare and distribute meals to vulnerable populations, addressing increased food insecurity caused by the pandemic.

Shared kitchens responded to COVID-19 by implementing stringent health and safety protocols, including enhanced cleaning, social distancing measures, and health screenings to ensure a safe environment for food production. They offered remote and virtual services, such as online training and workshops, to continue supporting food entrepreneurs while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Leveraging technology, shared kitchens streamlined operations with online booking systems, contactless payments, and digital marketing support. These adaptations allowed shared kitchens to play a critical role in sustaining small food businesses and promoting community food security during a challenging period.

Consider ways your kitchen could serve the local community in a disaster and discuss this with your team and stakeholders. Contact disaster management departments and organizations to explore how your kitchen assets could support aid and recovery efforts. Planning ahead will make your efforts more effective and give you time to consider member, staffing, safety, and liability considerations. Additionally, it is also essential to have a disaster management plan for your facility that details how staff and members should respond in an emergency.

Food Safety Classes

Food safety education is integral to kitchen success because every member requires some food safety training. Offering classes and training to the public is an opportunity to improve public health and educate the food industry’s workforce. It also represents an additional revenue stream for the kitchen. National food safety regulations require that retail food establishments employ at least one certified food protection manager. The certification can only be obtained by taking an accredited exam administered by a certified proctor or testing center. Certifiers such as ServSafe® or local health departments can help you find a certified proctor in your community to work with or help your kitchen become an official testing center. Requirements for business owners and workers can vary depending on the jurisdiction. Be sure to research licensing requirements and existing food safety certification providers to evaluate the training needs in the community before offering services.

• Space. Ensure your kitchen has a clean, beautiful, and well-lit area that meets professional photographers’ lighting and appearance requirements. Decide how much space photographers will have access to and how this will affect other rentals.
• Rates. Determine whether to charge your regular kitchen rental rates or a premium due to the specialized nature of photography and filming.
• Compatibility and impacts. Consider how photography bookings affect other kitchen activities and members and plan accordingly.
• Current members. Ensure your members know of potential disruptions, such as delivery delays or restricted kitchen access during shoots.
• Time. Be clear about the booking length and plan for possible overages, charging for additional time if necessary.
• Sound. If video is involved, ensure that noise from other kitchen activities or equipment won’t interfere with the production.

Pop-up Events

Pop-up dinners or events can create market opportunities for new businesses and raise the profile of your kitchen in the community. They can be an excellent way for new brands to catch customers’ attention because their temporary nature creates a sense of discovery and builds excitement. Pop-ups can help you market your kitchen and members’ products, reach new audiences, test new concepts, and conduct market research.

By nature of the events being “pop-up,” these kinds of events can be hosted in different places each time for a finite period of time. Or, you may wish to have a rotating “pop-up restaurant” or retail area like Foundation Kitchen in Charlestown, MA, where food businesses can rent space to host a pop-up dinner or event. In addition to seated dinners, pop-ups can be over-the-counter or cart sales, kiosks and market stands, and sample giveaways. A member might host their own pop-up to sell their product, or the kitchen can host a stand to showcase the products made in their kitchen.

If you are hosting a pop-up outside your kitchen, you can partner with another community event already happening (a stop along an art walk or a holiday lighting ceremony, for example). You might also set up an area with foot traffic (such as a street corner, park, retail shop, or warehouse). When considering off-site locations, ensure the venue fits the desired concept and has good potential for sales.

While pop-ups seem spontaneous to customers, they take quite a bit of planning and work. You will need to identify a goal and concept, set the menu/product list, coordinate with community partners and/or locations, create a budget and timeline, decide how you will market the event, and determine prices, ticketing, etc. If you choose not to sell tickets (perhaps for a pop-up at an existing community event), planning how much product will be needed can be more difficult. It is a good practice to gather feedback and contact information during the event to help build a following for the kitchen and/or businesses.

Be sure to confirm any zoning restrictions and permit requirements for your concept. Some jurisdictions may have antiquated codes that do not address or may even restrict pop-ups and mobile food vending. Working with your local agencies to interpret or revise these codes may be necessary and could take time. See the Regulatory Compliance chapter for tips on working with regulatory agencies.

Product Tastings and Trade Shows

Tastings are a fantastic way to engage the community and showcase the talents of your members, public chefs, and food entrepreneurs looking for visibility. Local foodies love sampling creations from innovative chefs, and these events provide an opportunity to share stories and build connections. You can host special events, pop-ups, or open houses dedicated to tastings or incorporate them into existing markets and events. Tastings are especially beneficial for unique products, allowing chefs to demonstrate preparation techniques and educate guests. These provide excellent opportunities for market research and community engagement in addition to sales.

Depending on your objectives, there are various formats for tastings, from casual to upscale. Open houses can promote your kitchen and members by offering the public a chance to sample products from your kitchen community. For chefs with a following, offering your space for private ticketed events can be effective. Interactive tastings, where chefs cook in front of guests and share tips, enhance the experience.

Additionally, trade show-style tasting events can help members meet buyers and land new wholesale and food service accounts. For example, Hope & Main, a food incubator in Warren, RI, hosts a Tabletop show for buyers. It connects its members with grocers, distributors, cafes, restaurants, and gift shops looking to purchase locally-made products.

Retail Spaces (storefront, market, consignment)

Food businesses are often in search of additional markets or distribution channels. Your kitchen may be an excellent venue to host a retail shop showcasing products made in your kitchen and the local community. Some kitchens offer occasional on-site pop-up retail events, while others host permanent kiosks, cafés, or retail markets. Including a grocery area, market, or café in or near your kitchen can be complex and warrants a separate retail market study and business plan. Factors such as consumer demand, location, margins, food spoilage, labor, storage, and point-of-sale systems must be considered.

Revenue models for on-site retail may include but are not limited to:

• Percentage commission for the kitchen on members’ goods or sales
• Wholesale purchase of packaged products by kitchen
• Flat rate charge per display area (per shelf, endcap, etc.)

Here are some examples of cafes, retail, or markets connected to shared kitchens.

Cucina Fresca Kitchen in Plainfield, IL, offers a comprehensive retail program for its shared kitchen members, providing multiple channels to sell their products. This includes a retail space for selling packaged or to-go goods and an 18% commission program for in-store and online sales, covering merchant card fees and sales tax. Members can earn up to 50% hourly credits through bartered labor for retail or cleaning duties. The program also includes online marketing support, featuring members on the website with search engine optimization benefits, and promoting products through social media

Subscription and Gift Box Programs

Community supported agriculture (CSA) connects farmers and producers with customers who wish to support their local producers and receive fresh foods directly from the farm or ranch. Customers become members or subscribers to that producer’s offerings, sometimes called buying a share. The offerings in the box typically vary depending on the season, harvest, and availability and may be from one producer or multiple producers. CSAs may require customers to pick up their boxes each week, or they may offer neighborhood pickup locations or delivery services. Kitchens can be ideal pickup locations for customers, as they offer a clean space and storage. They also provide access to kitchen equipment and prep tables if needed.

Similar to product CSAs, subscription programs have been adopted by makers throughout the food and beverage industry, including bakers, brewers, coffee roasters, and chocolatiers. You could create your own community-supported kitchen shares or maker box subscriptions by aggregating products from kitchen members (bread, fresh pasta, honey, jam, produce, eggs, baked goods, sauce, etc.) and place them into a box each week for subscribing customers. Another option is to offer a share for one type of product made in your kitchen, such as a bread and baked goods share. You or the maker can choose to charge customers per pickup or have them pay in advance for a three-, six-, or twelve-month share. This can be an effective strategy for driving traffic to your kitchen and growing a loyal customer base for you and your members.

Workforce Training Programs

Workforce training programs and shared kitchen programs are natural partners and frequently share facilities. This co-location can create an opportunity for underserved populations facing barriers to entering the workforce or starting businesses. Food service training can build skills and experience that can be leveraged to join or launch a food business.

program supports aspiring food business owners with resources, mentorship, and access to shared kitchen space, helping them launch and grow their ventures. These programs aim to empower participants through job skills, entrepreneurship, and economic opportunity.

The relationship between workforce training programs and entrepreneur-focused shared kitchens can take many forms. Kitchens may launch both services in tandem or start with one program and expand into the other. For example, workforce training programs sometimes start a shared kitchen rental program to generate revenue when the kitchen is not used for training. Some develop incubation programs at the urging of trainees interested in launching their own businesses. Shared kitchens and incubators sometimes partner with workforce programs or rent space to them as anchor tenants.

Whether this co-location makes sense depends on the program’s needs and facility design. The compatibility of time, space, and equipment needs is a crucial consideration if the program and entrepreneurs will be sharing the same kitchen area.

Workforce training programs often include a social enterprise component, either a wholesale product or a food service enterprise, that supports the program. These enterprise programs may require specialized equipment or a dedicated kitchen area to accommodate the production schedule. Organizations that plan to offer both programs from the beginning can design facilities that accommodate both uses more easily than those that add a program after the facility is built.

Another organization, Catalyst Kitchens, based in Seattle, WA, is a national network of independent programs that use food service training and social enterprise to help people facing barriers to employment. Their members are nonprofits that offer hands-on culinary training and life skills development, preparing participants for jobs in the food industry. Through social enterprise development ,Catalyst Kitchens supports organizations in creating sustainable food businesses that generate revenue while providing job opportunities. They also offer consulting services to help nonprofits design and scale food service programs that combine workforce development with social impact. The goal is to create a sustainable model that provides career pathways for underserved populations. Check out their website’s network map and resources to learn more about these enterprises.

Final Thoughts

As we’ve seen, community programming and services offer shared kitchens a way to expand their impact beyond renting space, fostering engagement while generating additional revenue streams. From cooking classes and workforce training to farmers’ markets and food access programs, these services are beneficial for connecting with the community and supporting local food systems. Each program offers unique opportunities to reach new populations and strengthen the kitchen’s role in the community.

In the next chapter, we delve into business incubation programs, which play a crucial role in helping entrepreneurs start, grow, and thrive. These programs offer vital services such as business planning, product development, and access to sales opportunities. By providing tailored support through mentorship, workshops, and networking, business incubation programs help entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of launching and scaling their businesses. Whether you aim to create jobs, boost local economies, or build a vibrant food ecosystem, understanding how to design and implement these programs will be key to empowering your members and driving long-term success.