- Shared Commercial Kitchens Add
Value to Growers’ Produce
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- By Karen Gentry
Managing Editor
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- Katherine Kelly hates to see good produce go to waste. The small vegetable grower from Full Circle Farm in Kansas City, Kan. knew she wanted to process her extra produce, but it wasn’t cost effective to start up her own commercial kitchen.
An underutilized kitchen belonging to a Lutheran church was the answer Kelly and her partner Carol Burns were looking for. Kelly and Burns grow certified organic vegetable and herbs on two acres in their urban area.
They rent their land from a non-profit organization, and their zoning didn’t allow for new commercial activity on the land, Kelly said.
They looked for a commercial kitchen in restaurants and empty storefronts before settling on the well-equipped kitchen of the Lutheran church, one mile away from their farm.
“It [commercial kitchen idea] came about because we always had seconds. We have really high standards on what we take to market,” said Kelly.
Full Circle Farm added a three-compartment sink and made other minor improvements to the kitchen to bring it up to code. They pay the church a monthly rental fee and a smaller winter fee for storage.
To finance the operation Kelly wrote letters to their CSA (community supported agriculture) customers and asked for loans. “We got really great response from people,” said Kelly. Their commercial kitchen venture started last year, and they now even have a full-time cook during the growing season.
She has put her past experience as a professional chef to use. Kelly and Burns now produce an array of products through their commercial kitchen including 15 different varieties of soups, pickled okra, dilled beans, mushroom tomato soup, icicle pickles roasted eggplant and peppers and other gourmet items. Their balsamic vinegar—infused with herbs with the consistency of chocolate syrup—sells for $18 for two ounces.
Kelly estimates they grow every vegetable out there—400-500 different varieties including squash, fennel, celery, beans and lettuce. They sell their items at the farmers’ markets, Christmas holiday sales and through their 50-member CSA.
“We’ve had really great demand for our products and sold everything that we’ve processed. It’s a great complement to the farm,” said Kelly. As they are only in their second year, she hasn’t figured out if it’s going to be more profitable than selling produce outright or not. She said processing their excess produce is less wasteful than if it would have been used as compost or given away.
The biggest challenge to commercial kitchens is the steep learning curve. Bringing the kitchen up to code involved learning the types of taps required for sinks and following health and environmental codes including the requirements for jars and lids.
It takes more time to find recipes, work with the cook and decide what sells and what doesn’t. “It’s starting up a whole new business,” Kelly said. They’ve learned about topics they never thought of such as water analysis and chemical interactions.
“Our soups have done extremely well. All they do is heat it up. I think that’s a reflection on how busy people are,” said Kelly.
A workshop on commercial kitchens and food processing in Kansas attracted 60 people. Karen Pendleton, from the Pendleton Country Market in Lawrence, Kan. organized the workshop. Pendleton said a grant, “Guided Exploration of Value Added Enterprises” from the Kansas Rural Center, helped pay for the workshop.
Several workshops covered topics on commercial kitchens including labeling and containers for fruits and vegetable products as well as products from other items such as honey. Representatives from the state health department were also on hand to answer questions.
“It (workshop) was geared for those selling at farmers’ markets so they will comply with rules and regulations,” said Pendleton.
Pendleton raises 25 acres of asparagus, six acres of flowers and another couple acres of vegetables and hydroponic tomatoes and bedding plants in the greenhouse. She said they wanted to do a pickled asparagus product.
“We were growing asparagus. We wanted to offer pickled asparagus to sell throughout the year,” said Pendleton. Today they used a certified kitchen located about three miles from their farm. Since that first dabbling with value-added, the Pendletons started growing blue corn and found a corn chip making plant that makes blue chips.
They now have their own label for the blue chips. “We’re able to do small quantities to be able to promote our blue corn,” said Pendleton. Their chips are sold at their farm market, to farmers’ markets, local health food stores and to larger grocery stores for sales in the natural food section, mostly in Kansas City and Topeka, Kan.
Pendleton advises growers to find a product that not everyone’s doing. Although salsa is a hot product that many produce, she noted that a neighboring grower puts peaches in his salsa. She said pesto and salad mixes from commercial kitchens have become popular.
Pendleton said she has toured one commercial kitchen that was started for less than $10,000. “Depending on what you’re processing, your requirements are going to be different,” Pendleton said. Besides churches, it’s possible to rent commercial kitchens from restaurants, banquet facilities or a concession stand at a local fairgrounds, according to Pendleton.
Mary Pat Carlson, a tart cherry grower from Algoma, Wis., figures being involved in a commercial kitchen is a way of giving back to the community. She works 20 hours a week for an incubator kitchen that now serves 15 members.
The Agricultural Heritage & Resources, Inc. funded the startup of a commercial kitchen in Algoma. The non-profit organization serves Brown, Door, Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties in Wisconsin.
“I had the idea. I needed to add value to tart cherries. I thought I could just make products. I didn’t think I would have trouble finding a commercial kitchen,” said Carlson. It was cost prohibitive for Carlson to start her own commercial kitchen, as she only needs to process three weeks out of the year for their jams, jellies, pie fillings and spiced cherry sauce. She estimates that 50% of the people involved with the kitchen are growers while the other 50% want to process products for a caterer or a restaurant.
Carlson has discovered that good things happen when people work together. One grower of 1 1/2 acres of asparagus sells most of it fresh but wanted to produce pickled asparagus. Because he wasn’t interested in processing asparagus himself, Carlson teamed him with a strawberry processor to make the pickled asparagus for him.
“It’s going to take a while for this to evolve. It takes a lot of education for growers, processors and consumers,” Carlson said.
Those becoming involved in the kitchen must have a business plan in place and product liability of $1 million, according to Carlson. Those needing assistance with a business plan are referred to a small business association. She said a specialty food marketing cooperative was formed in her area for the main purpose of reducing the cost of liability insurance.
Do you have a commercial kitchen in your area? Do many vegetable growers use the kitchen? Write and tell us about your successes, advice, experiences and plans for a commercial kitchen in your region.
