The one thing in common at any show, be it a car show, ren fest, arts and crafts show or any other of a long list, is FOOD.
People like to eat. Look around at a show and see how many people are noshing on something or another. Lots, right?
I just had a thought, and I hesitate to post it but, it seems ironic that the longest lines at festivals are at the food booths and the port a potties. sorry
Anyway, after more that 30 years in the arts and crafts we decided that we would develop a food item to be sold at shows, farmers markets and hopefully, distributed in stores.
Once we decided on a product and refined recipes we needed to research the regulations set forth by the state in regard to producing and selling food.
We have a little experience in this department as our home kitchen has a New York State baking exemption. After filling out some papers an inspector came in and took a look around, made sure we understood safe practices and issued us the permit. This permit, however only allows us to produce a specific list of food items. For example we are permitted to bake a cherry pie with a top crust but we may not make a custard pie. Likewise we can bake bread but not banana bread.
The item we chose is a fresh food item and requires an inspected kitchen with a 3 bowl sink and it can not be the kitchen used for the household. That left us with the option of converting a room in the house to a kitchen or setting a kitchen up elsewhere.
Setting up at home would be straight forward. Buy a sink and refrigerator and a small stove. Section off a room and make it easy to clean. For example, no carpet, white walls and ceiling that can be cleaned, hand sink and access to a bathroom. This is defiantly an option but our house is small and we would be sacrificing a room. A renter probably would not have this option at all. The only way we could make a good decision is to examine all the alternatives and weigh the pros and cons.
Renting a store front and building a kitchen is expensive for a small start up. If we had tens of thousands of dollars behind us and a proven product this might work we are not in that position. Just to get a key the land lords want firsts, lasts and in many cases a security deposit.
An other option would be to rent space in an existing restaurant. We have a small deli in town where they agreed to rent us space for a set per hour rate. It seemed fair but recent events, the death of one of the owners and the fact that the business is up for sale put this option down on the list.
This was not going to be easy. One of the stipulation set forth by New York State is you may not use the kitchen while the owner is using it. For example if you find a restaurant who serves meals, the state will not allow anyone to produce food while the owner is serving.
We found a site through searching, MiKitchenEsSuKitchen and Kathrine Gregory was kind enough to send us a few links to helpful sites that list shared kitchens.
These sites are:
http://www.culinaryincubator.com/maps.php/
http://www.commercialkitchenforrent.com/
Unfortunately the closest location to us is about 60 miles away but our time on the sites was well spent as there are other resources listed. The more info the better!
Then the other day I was helping a neighbor mow his lawn. He is a medic in the 10th Mountain Division here at Fort Drum and since he is gone for extended periods the neighbors pitch in with things like mowing the lawn and watching the place. As it would happen he is going to Afghanistan for a year starting in a month and he offered us the use of his kitchen while he is gone.
Since no one will be living there is is not a family kitchen. There is a frige and a bathroom, work table and the only addition would be an extra bowl for the sink, but that could be on a temporary stand as long as it was plumbed in.
Our ag and markets inspector seemed intrigued by the idea but said he would need to make a few calls to get details.
We are hopeful that this may work as a year would be a good time to test the product and get things going. Moving from site to site would be expensive as this permit costs $400.00 for 2 years, paid in advance and if you move the permit process starts all over and another $400.00 to the state. Not a fortune, true, but $400.00 goes a long way in buying supply’s and other expenses and I don’t know if I agree with the way the state spends money, but that is another topic for sure.
So we wait for the inspectors reply, meanwhile, we are wondering if it would make sense to set up an incubator in this area.