Infrastructure Support for Local Food Businesses
Otsego2000 Launches Survey to Assess the Need for a Shared Commercial Kitchen

Are you looking for an opportunity in the local food business? Maybe you are the next Chobani yogurt success. Demand for locally grown food and locally produced food products continue to increase. In New York City alone the demand is estimated at $1B and is nowhere near being met currently. A variety of projects are underway to help farmers and small food business entrepreneurs get their products to market, increase productivity, and create new value-added products.  A commercial kitchen facility is clearly one critical piece of the supporting infrastructure required to promote such growth locally.  Commercial kitchens perform vital services in the processing and packaging of local food products.

To begin to understand our area’s needs, Otsego 2000, the non-profit organization which sponsors the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, is launching a survey of food and agricultural entrepreneurs within a 50-mile  radius.  Anyone currently operating a value-added food product business, or planning to develop a new product should fill out this survey.  At the same time, Otsego 2000 is mapping the current network of commercial kitchens that crisscross central NY to see what kinds of facilities are available and where the gaps might be. Collecting this information and developing kitchen profiles is underway. Results will be posted online.

Why would farm businesses and other specialty food processors need a commercial kitchen?  Commercial kitchens monitor food safety for the public. Understanding where the line is drawn between the layers of licensing requirements is complicated. Here are a couple of instances when a 20-C licensed kitchen facility is required:

•         Farms process livestock at USDA-certified processing facilities; however when a farmer wants to make grandpa’s sausage recipe and package it for resale, a certified 20-C kitchen facility is required.

•         If an orchard makes fruit jam and wants to add hot peppers to the recipe, a 20-C commercial kitchen is required.

•         If a produce farmer has more in the field than can be sold at harvest time and wants to pickle, dry, freeze, can, or package produce, a 20-C commercial kitchen is required.

•         Chocolate makers also need a 20-C licensed kitchen as well as caterers.

When asked, Lyn Weir, manager of the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market and Agricultural Programs at Otsego 2000 said, “Agricultural and food businesses of all kinds could expand into a variety of value-added food products given access to a 20-C commercial kitchen. The lack of such a facility is a barrier to start-ups and business expansion. Establishing how many folks would use such a facility, and what their specific needs might be, is vital to assessing whether this project moves forward with an additional facility in our area or provides support for the already existing facilities in a 50-mile radius.”

Please fill out the survey if your business growth requires access to a 20-C commercial kitchen. If you would like to start a new value-added food business, please fill out the survey.  If this applies to someone you know please pass this invitation on to them so they may participate in the survey. Your feedback will influence the direction of this project.

We have contracted with QuestionPro, an independent research firm, to field your confidential survey responses.  Please use this link to access the survey:  http://questionpro.com/t/AKjbzZQdMe and watch the www.otsego2000.org website for updates. For more information, call Lyn Weir at (607)547-6195.