Building a successful food business is no easy feat, especially in today’s highly competitive market. For many entrepreneurs, the journey from concept to market is filled with challenges—navigating regulations, developing products, securing funding, and finding sales channels. This is where business incubation programs come in, offering critical support to help entrepreneurs overcome these hurdles and accelerate their path to success. Incubation programs serve as the backbone of food entrepreneurship, offering a wide range of services from business planning and product development to marketing, networking, and financial guidance.

This chapter explores the transformative impact of business incubation programs that provide the knowledge, resources, and mentorship that help food entrepreneurs thrive. By boosting small business success, these programs fuel local economies, create jobs, and strengthen food systems. Whether you’re interested in launching an incubator or enhancing your existing services, we’ll guide you through the essential elements of incubation—from assessing community needs to building a robust support network for your members. By the end, you’ll understand how tailored incubation services can propel your kitchen into a central role within the entrepreneurial ecosystem, helping both your kitchen and your members flourish.

What is Food Business Incubation?

Incubation services are designed to help food businesses start, grow, and thrive within the highly competitive food industry. Incubation includes a wide range of advising and education services, including business planning, product development, and sales opportunities that help members become more successful. Incubators grow businesses and create jobs in the local economy by helping more businesses succeed and accelerating their growth and expansion to brick-and-mortar locations.

Many shared kitchens have developed their own incubation services or programs as either a benefit of membership or an additional fee-based service. Because of the positive outcomes for communities and local economies, incubation programs often attract community support through partnerships, grants,and sponsor ships. Incubation programs also offer many benefits to the shared kitchen through revenue, recruitment, and retention.

Education and advising are the heart of business incubation. They are often delivered through a combination of one-on-one coaching, group classes, workshops, and mentoring sessions. These offerings frequently include “how to start a food business” classes, marketing workshops, and financial coaching. While incubation programs are often focused on early-stage business planning, there is a growing recognition of the need to facilitate market opportunities and sales to accelerate the growth of member businesses.

Buyer connections, e-commerce support, showcase events, catering referrals, retail stores, and gift box programs are ways that incubators create opportunities for their members. Many programs offer capital and financial services, including microloans, investor pitch sessions, crowdfunding campaign support, and relationships with accountants and financial advisors. Strategic partnerships with organizations and market channels in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem make these support services possible. Some incubator programs focus their services on underserved populations to build opportunities for populations facing barriers to entering the food industry.

Shared kitchens, incubator kitchens, food innovation centers (FICs), and accelerators offer a tremendous breadth of services to food businesses and the larger community. The article “No Two Incubators ThinkAlike” by the Counter, illustrates the diversity of approaches to incubation services among kitchens. Kitchens that offer services to members often fall under the incubation banner, but not all kitchens that offer services consider themselves “incubators.” Some shared kitchen operators also provide fee-based services on a consulting basis for members and non-members. Incubators tend to be distinguished from
shared kitchens by the depth and breadth of services they provide.

Benefits of Offering Incubation

Food business incubation services not only help entrepreneurs succeed and grow their businesses but also play a crucial role in generating revenue for shared kitchens by attracting members, ensuring long-term engagement, and enabling higher fees. These services appeal to aspiring food entrepreneurs who need comprehensive support, including business planning, marketing assistance, and regulatory guidance, beyond just access to kitchen space.

Depending on the population you serve, you may also find the need to partner with other service providers to address non-business service needs that impact your members’ success, such as English language classes, childcare services, banking access, credit building, or immigration advocacy.

By integrating practical training with expert mentorship and valuable resources, shared kitchens can create a supportive ecosystem that helps food entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of starting a business and fosters long-term success and growth. Be sure to check out the Community Programming and Services chapter for additional ideas and information.

Business Planning and Launch Assistance

Kitchens can develop comprehensive business planning and launch programming that covers essential topics such as business formation, licensing, regulations, financial planning, branding, marketing, and sales channels. You can offer a mix of workshops, boot camps, and one-on-one coaching sessions. Workshops and boot camps can be structured as intensive, short-term programs covering foundational business concepts, while personalized coaching can provide ongoing support tailored to individual business needs. Partnering with local business development organizations, financial advisors, and marketing experts can enhance the quality and breadth of the services offered. Additionally, providing access to resources such as business plan templates, financial projection tools, and regulatory guides can empower members to effectively plan and launch their businesses.

Networking

Networking opportunities are among the most valuable opportunities shared kitchens and business incubators can provide. And they can be one of the simplest services to offer. Many food entrepreneurs do not come from a restaurant, food truck, or CPG background, and developing connections within the industry is vital to their success. Food entrepreneurs rely on networks for informal advice that only firsthand experience can provide, such as which farmers’ markets are most profitable, which booth location is most successful at events, and which printer has the best quality labels. Entrepreneurs also help each other find local or specialty ingredients, packaging, and equipment suppliers. The opportunity to gain insider knowledge from other food entrepreneurs can be a significant motivator for new members to join a kitchen, so building a reputation for offering a robust network can be a strong selling point for your kitchen.

While networking amongst members often happens organically in a shared kitchen, it is not guaranteed. Shared kitchens can be busy, loud places where members may feel pressured for time. Creating opportunities for relationship-building off the clock can make the kitchen culture more cooperative. Some kitchens set a tone of mutual support when members join by stating the expectation that members will help each other, share advice, and give back to other members as they learn and grow. Being intentional about engaging individuals who may face barriers to inclusion in established networks can help create more inclusive networking opportunities.

On-site Networking

Creating space for members to connect can happen on-site, off-site, and/or online. If you are designing a new kitchen, consider areas where members might gather informally outside the cooking stations, such as breakrooms, lobbies, and meeting rooms. Consider hosting a recurring member meetup or happy hour if you have a gathering area on-site. These gatherings can be informal discussions without a program, facilitated events with icebreakers, or featured members and/or mentors answering questions. Creating networking events that include prospective members and other businesses in the local food scene can help your kitchen become a hub and attract new members.

Off-site Events

If you do not have space to create on-site gatherings, networking events can also be organized off-site at alocal coffee shop, coworking space, service provider office, or library meeting room. Sometimes incubators focus on one larger flagship event per year, such as organizing a conference for local food businesses, a food festival, or a showcase event for businesses to pitch to the public, investors, and buyers. Be sure to also look for existing local meetups and chapters of national networks, such as the Chambers of Commerce, Naturally Network, Slow Food, and Startup CPG, that your members can join.

Online Networking

Online platforms can be a convenient way for shared kitchens to facilitate connections between members of the local food industry. Online exchanges have the advantage of being visible to more people and available as archives for future users. Shared kitchens can create private forums, Slack channels, Google Groups, or Facebook Groups for members to ask questions and offer advice anytime. For example, CommonWealth Kitchen hosts a local food business listserv with over 250 active members. Your kitchen can also help connect members with outside networks that have a larger reach, such as Startup Slack channel with over 20,000 members.

Hosting virtual meetups through platforms such as Zoom and Teams can also be a great way to reach busy entrepreneurs who find it hard to attend in-person events. Business Impact NW’s Food Business Resource Center in Washington State hosts an annual Food Biz Week for food and farm businesses featuring online workshops, networking events, buyer connections, technical assistance, and presentations by local food entrepreneurs.

As with all offerings, look for gaps in existing services before defaulting to offering the same opportunities. Look for ways to build on existing networks by collaborating with other groups and brainstorming with members who are naturally network weavers. Well-connected businesses in your community can help champion your new offerings and expand your reach.

Production Services

You can enhance your members’ production by investing in specialized equipment that caters to diverse food production needs, such as co-packing, bulk ingredient sourcing, and packaging. Offering co-packing services can be particularly advantageous for small food businesses, enabling them to efficiently scale operations by outsourcing some of the manufacturing and packaging processes.

In addition to physical resources, you can partner with local suppliers and distributors to streamline ingredient sourcing and reduce costs for your members. Providing technical support and training on production processes, including recipe scaling, food safety, and quality control, through workshops and hands-on sessions can further bolster the production capabilities of member businesses. By integrating infrastructure and expertise, you can significantly support the production of your members in the competitive food market.

Co-manufacturing, Tolling, or Co-packing

Co-packing (also called contract manufacturing, tolling, or toll processing) is the outsourcing of a product’s manufacturing and packaging. Co-packers are often larger operations that exclusively manufacture for other brands. However, smaller specialty food producers will also take on contract manufacturing or co-packing of products for other brands in the open time (also referred to as line time) they have between their own production runs. Shared kitchens can offer similar services for members and other food brands as an additional revenue stream. Co-packing products can also be a revenue-producing activity for workforce training programs.

Kitchens that can produce small product runs for food entrepreneurs fill a crucial niche, offering a cost-effective solution for brands looking to commercialize their products. By enabling small-scale production, these kitchens make market testing more accessible, allowing businesses to refine their products without the pressure of large financial commitments. Most co-packers require minimum order quantities (MOQs)that demand significant upfront capital and force entrepreneurs to prepare for large-scale sales before they’re ready. Kitchens that specialize in high-demand processing, such as bottling or dry mixes, can offer targeted services, ensuring consistent demand and avoiding the inefficiencies of unused capacity. While businesses may only place orders for a relatively short time, since companies grow and change, this service can benefit your bottom line and help propel the growth of member businesses. Food+TechConnect’s article, “4 Tips for Scaling Your Food Business With a Co-Packer,” sheds some light on why food entrepreneurs seek co-packing services. You can find it in our References chapter.

 

If a member business is scaling quickly, it may need to find a commercial co-packer to take over production in order to ensure the consistency and availability of its product.

Whether co-packing is feasible for your kitchen depends upon the type of equipment (bottling line, filler, labeler) and the staff available. Staff must have the necessary food production skills to reliably manufacture the product according to the brand’s specifications. You will want to consider the impact that co-packing has on your available kitchen time. Producing co-packing runs during off-peak hours may be available way to increase kitchen efficiency, but that requires staff to work overnight hours. Committing too much kitchen time to co-packing may also inhibit the growth of your members.

You should evaluate the costs and margins carefully to determine if the kitchen will net income from co-packing. Be sure to think through where the finished products will be stored and whether there is room in your facility to accommodate the volume needed to be profitable. You should also work closely with the businesses to make sure there are adequate distribution and market opportunities to move the finished product to retail shelves in a timely fashion.

If you are considering adding co-packing to your service offerings, be sure to assess the demand for it through market research. Consult the Market Research chapter for further guidance on surveying the needs of entrepreneurs in your community. If you decide not to offer co-packing, developing relationships with existing co-packers in your region is a good idea. They can be vital resources for members who outgrow your kitchen or are ready to transition to outsourcing their manufacturing.

Marketing and Design Services

You can support members with marketing and design services by offering comprehensive branding assistance and support. This includes helping businesses develop a strong brand identity through logo design, product positioning, and packaging design. By providing access to graphic designers and marketing experts, operators can ensure that members’ products are visually appealing and market-ready. Developing knowledge about printers, packaging manufacturers, and distributors can help streamline the labeling and packaging process for members. Negotiating discounts with designers and vendors can be an added benefit for members. Additionally, organizing workshops on branding strategies and consumer engagement can empower entrepreneurs with the knowledge to market their products effectively.

Filming and food photography are other essential services for food businesses that kitchens can help facilitate through referrals, mini-session photo shoots, and studio kitchen areas designed for filming and photography. See the Community Programming and Services chapter for additional discussion on designing kitchens with filming and photography in mind.

Furthermore, kitchen operators can facilitate e-commerce support to help members create and manage online stores. This involves offering technical assistance with setting up e-commerce platforms like Shopify, enabling businesses to reach a broader audience. Operators can also provide social media marketing support, teaching members how to leverage social media channels to promote their products and engage with customers.

E-commerce Support

E-commerce platforms have revolutionized the food business landscape, providing new avenues for startup brands to reach a broader audience. Embracing e-commerce is essential for shared kitchens aiming to help their members expand their reach and grow their businesses online. A growing number of platforms are designed specifically to streamline the sales and delivery experience for food businesses. Shared kitchens provide ideal facilities for home cooks wishing to take advantage of these platforms. By leveraging partnerships with e-commerce platforms like Bottle, Castiron, Cookin, or Shopify, shared kitchens can offer comprehensive solutions tailored to food businesses, including website creation, online ordering, and payment processing. Additionally, shared kitchens can also extend their services further by providing shipping and fulfillment capabilities to streamline e-commerce sales.

• Bottle: An e-commerce platform designed specifically for meal delivery businesses. It provides tools for brand building, customer engagement, and sales optimization. The platform includes features like customized online stores, subscription services, and direct-to-consumer sales strategies.
• Castiron: E-commerce platform tailored for independent food artisans. It simplifies the process of setting up an online store, managing orders, and connecting with customers. Castiron offers tools for marketing, sales tracking, and customer relationship management specifically designed for small food businesses.
• Shopify: Enables entrepreneurs to create and manage online food stores with customizable themes, professional tools, and integrated payment gateways. The platform supports marketing efforts through social media and search engine optimization tools and provides 24/7 customer support. Users can streamline inventory management and order processing via a unified dashboard.

Shared kitchens can also explore partnerships with online farmers’ markets and aggregation platforms such as Barn2Door, Foraged, Full Harvest, Harvie, and LocalHarvest. These partnerships can help renters diversify their sales channels and reach a broader audience, thereby strengthening the local food system and enhancing the shared kitchen’s value proposition in the evolving landscape of online commerce.

• Barn2Door: Provides software solutions for farmers to sell their products directly to consumers.It offers tools for managing online orders, subscriptions, deliveries, and customer relationships, enabling farmers to streamline operations and increase their market reach.
• Foraged: An online marketplace for wild and specialty foods. It connects foragers, farmers, and artisans with consumers seeking unique and sustainable food products, promoting a direct relationship between producers and buyers.
• Full Harvest: A business-to-business (B2B) marketplace for surplus and imperfect produce. It helps reduce food waste by connecting farms with buyers looking for cost-effective, sustainable produce options.
• Harvie: Offers personalized farm share subscriptions (CSA) delivered directly from local farmers to consumers. It allows customization of farm shares to match individual preferences and provides a platform for farmers to manage their subscriptions and deliveries.
• LocalHarvest: Connects consumers with local farms and farmers’ markets. It provides a directory of farms, CSAs, and farmers’ markets across the U.S., promoting local food consumption and supporting small-scale agriculture.

Sales / Market Opportunity Development

Incubator Kitchens are increasingly building market opportunities for program participants through a host of activities, including coordinating distribution services, facilitating retail markets, forging buyer/broker relationships, and promoting businesses at trade shows and events. This can be achieved by building relationships with local retailers, distributors, and buyers interested in small, local food producers. Hosting on-site buyer events or participating in trade shows like the Fancy Food Show can provide members with valuable opportunities to showcase their products to a broader audience. Additionally, offering shared exhibit space at these events can lower the cost barrier for smaller businesses and create a more impactful presence. Kitchens can negotiate group membership rates with trade associations such as the Specialty Food Association and chambers of commerce. These benefits help attract and retain members in the kitchen space.

Moreover, shared kitchens can assist members in developing comprehensive sales strategies. This includes offering workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions focused on sales techniques, pricing strategies, and market analysis. By leveraging their network, kitchen operators can facilitate introduction of brokers and sales agents who can further help members expand their market reach. Providing ongoing support through regular networking events and mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs can also foster a collaborative environment where members can learn from each other and share valuable insights on market trends and sales tactics.

• The Fancy Food Show: Organized by the Specialty Food Association, the show features gourmet and specialty foods from around the world with biannual events. The Incubator Village at the FancyFood Show highlights early-stage food brands, providing them with a platform to showcase their products to a large audience of buyers and industry professionals. This initiative, open to those interested in bringing a delegation for brands from their kitchen, helps emerging businesses gain exposure, network, and build brand recognition, facilitating their growth within the specialty food industry.
• KeHE Food and Natural Products Trade Shows: Offers in-person and virtual opportunities to showcase the latest emerging brands in natural, organic, and specialty foods.
• UNFI Seasonal Shows: Focusing on natural, organic, and specialty products, UNFI hosts multiple trade shows throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Winter, and Holiday shows.
• Natural Products Expo West and Newtopia Now: Organized by the New Hope Network, ExpoWest and Newtopia are the leading trade shows in the natural, organic, and healthy products industry.
• Sweet & Snacks Expo: The only event dedicated to the candy and snack industry, showcasing a wide range of confectionery and snack products.
• Plant-Based World Expo: The only 100% plant-based B2B expo for retail and food service.
• National Retail Federation (NRF) Retail’s Big Show: A leading annual event for the retail industry.
• AFFI-CON :Organized by the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), serves as a key platform for fostering business relationships and driving growth in the frozen food sector.
• Groceryshop :A prominent annual conference focused on innovation in the grocery and CPG industries.

Many shows require exhibitors to join as paid members to participate. Be sure to check all requirements and speak with a representative if you are interested in exhibiting with a cohort from your kitchen. There may be opportunities for discounted booths for nonprofit kitchens or kitchens bringing a group of food businesses.

Product Development and Food Safety Services

Food businesses may need support in understanding recipe scaling, shelf-life testing, nutritional analysis, and food safety compliance. Shared kitchens can establish partnerships with food science professionals, local universities, and food safety certification organizations to leverage their expertise and resources. Incubation programs can also create a comprehensive service package that includes product development food safety services, such as:

• Providing workshops or coaching on food safety best practices, product development techniques, and regulatory compliance.
• Offering assistance with developing food safety plans and/or training in HACCP planning, GMP, and safe food handling procedures.
• Providing access to specialized equipment and facilities for product testing and development to accelerate the refinement of new products with expert guidance.
• Facilitating one-on-one mentoring by connecting members with experienced food scientists and safety experts.
• Developing a resource library with guides, templates, and checklists for product development and food safety. Plan to regularly update these resources to reflect the latest industry standards and regulations.

Shared kitchens should also implement an ongoing feedback mechanism to continually assess the effectiveness of their services and make necessary adjustments based on member input. By addressing these areas systematically, shared kitchens can significantly enhance the product quality and safety standards of their member businesses, fostering growth and compliance in the competitive food industry.

Food Safety Classes

As highlighted in the Community Programming and Services chapter, food safety education is crucial for members and incubator participants to ensure they meet the highest standards. Well-trained members reduce risks in the kitchen and set high standards for others. As members scale their operations, they need ongoing education on food safety practices like kill steps and safe production processes. By offering tailored classes, you can improve public health,and industry skills, and create a knowledgeable and responsible kitchen community. Collaborate with certification providers, such as ServSafe©, and industry professionals to effectively meet these needs.

Financial Guidance and Services

Common needs for food entrepreneurs to support financial sustainability and growth require access to capital, cash flow management, and an understanding financial statements. Establish partnerships with local financial institutions, microlenders, and economic development organizations to leverage their expertise and resources.

You can develop a suite of financial services tailored to your members, including microloans for working capital and equipment purchases, workshops on budgeting and financial projections, crowdfunding support, and investment pitch events. Offer regular financial literacy workshops covering essential topics like business formation, licensing, insurance, and pricing strategies. Additionally, provide one-on-one coaching by connecting members with financial advisors and experienced entrepreneurs.

Additionally, shared kitchens can establish partnerships with real estate developers, commercial property owners, and co-packers to facilitate a smooth transition for their members. Creating a network of preferred brokers, vendors, and service providers can help entrepreneurs find suitable brick-and-mortar locations, negotiate leases, and efficiently set up operations. For members looking to move into franchising, shared kitchens can offer training on franchise management and connect members with franchise consultants and legal experts. Additionally, helping food businesses apply to accelerators and connect with investors can help propel their business to the next level.

By offering ongoing support and maintaining a strong alumni network, shared kitchens can ensure that their graduates continue to thrive and contribute to the local food ecosystem even after they have outgrown the shared kitchen space. This not only helps individual businesses succeed it also allows new entrepreneurs to benefit from the shared kitchen’s resources.

Accelerators

Accelerators are typically short-term programs designed to help businesses with high growth potential expand more quickly. They usually have a competitive application process where a cohort of accepted companies are offered intensive mentoring and support either at a specific location or remotely. Participants are typically given the opportunity to network with industry leaders, refine their business

model, and pitch to investors for potential equity investment from the program or outside investors. In exchange, most accelerators take an equity stake in the companies, but some operate on a program fee basis.

Incubators can establish their own accelerators and pitch programs. Union Kitchen’s accelerator in Washington, D.C., is a fast-paced program designed to scale consumer packaged goods food companies. The food business can blossom in about eighteen months with a roadmap incorporating launch, product-market fit, growth, and scale phases. Union Kitchen’s process involves food entrepreneurs taking a concept to the production level, then launching it in the Union Kitchen Grocery, and finally, after achieving saturation in a local market, distributing the product at a multiregional scale with the help of investment capital. Accelerators like Union Kitchen are at the forefront of a trend among entrepreneurial support programs (including incubators, food hubs, and FICs) to address capital and distribution hurdles that often prevent businesses from scaling.

Incubators can also prepare their members to be competitive in regional and national accelerators rather than creating their own. Grocery manufacturers and food companies such as PepsiCo, Kroger, Target, and DoorDash host their own accelerator-type programs as a way to outsource their research and development departments by connecting with early-stage, innovative companies, and emerging trends.

• Target Accelerator: The program helps early-stage and mature CPG businesses prepare for and scale on mass retail shelves. Participants gain access to curated educational resources, industry mentors, and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs. The program offers two tracks: ForwardFounders for early-stage businesses and Takeoff for more mature businesses.
• Kroger Go Fresh & Local: The program is an initiative to support local and regional food producers by providing them with opportunities to partner with Kroger. It includes a competition where winners receive product placements in Kroger stores, access to business development programs, and the potential for long-term supplier relationships.
• DoorDash Accelerator for Local Goods: Supports underrepresented entrepreneurs in the CPG sector, offering participants a tailored curriculum, grants, marketing support, and access toDoorDash’s logistics platform to help scale their businesses.
• PepsiCo Greenhouse Accelerator: Focuses on nurturing emerging nutrition, health, and wellness brands. Participants receive mentorship from PepsiCo experts, a grant to support business growth ,and the opportunity to collaborate with PepsiCo’s resources and networks to accelerate their growth.

Final Thoughts

Business incubation programs are a cornerstone of any successful shared kitchen, offering essential tools to help food entrepreneurs thrive. Whether it’s business planning, product development, or building market opportunities, these services create a supportive ecosystem that accelerates the growth of small businesses. By providing tailored, comprehensive support, incubators not only enhance the success of individual members but can also generate long-term revenue and partnerships for the kitchen itself. Shared kitchens can draw inspiration from others by joining the NICK (Network for Incubator and Commissary Kitchens), the InBIA (International Business Innovation Association), and attending the shared Kitchen Summit to learn best practices and discover incubation tools they can leverage to elevate their services.

In the next chapter, we’ll turn to services planning, focusing on how to identify, design, and implementa range of services that can enhance your kitchen’s value and profitability. From researching your community’s needs to creating in-house and third-party service offerings, we’ll explore the steps needed to build a service model that supports your kitchen’s mission while driving sustainable growth.