Our goal is to build a robust and continually expanding resource section including information on incubators, vendors, packaging, ingredient and equipment suppliers, marketing and design agencies, distributors, co-packers, consultants, investment opportunities and more.
Know of a great informational resource or vendor?
Let us know.
We welcome your input!
Resource Center
NON-ACADEMIC FOOD INCUBATORS (outside NYC metro)
UNIVERSITY INCUBATOR & FOOD SCIENCE CENTERS
Collaborate with us and your fellow foodpreneurs. Send us information on the resources and vendors you find so that we can add to this list and together we can continually grow this into something that can be helpful to all food startups.
Many of the below have educational programs for food entrepreneurs, test kitchens, testing labs and fairly extensive resource sections of their own.
Perdue University Extension Local Food Program
Perdue University Food Science Pilot Lab
Cornell University Food Venture Center
Food Business School (part of Culinary Institute of America)
Penn State University Extension - Food Safety & Processing
Rutgers University Food Innovation Center
Steps to Start a Specialty Food Business (source: Cornell University)
Small Scale Food Entrepreneurship: A Technical Guide For Food Ventures: (source: Cornell University)
How to Calculate Gross Margin (source: New Hope Media)
U.S Kitchen Incubators An Industry Update - March 2016
Choosing and Using a Co-Packer (source: Texas A&M Extension)
How to get your product to stand out on Amazon
EDUCATION - INFORMATIONAL GUIDES & ARTICLES
Specialty Food CoPackers Directory
Cornell University CoPackers Directory
Rutgers University - list of kitchen spaces and co-packers in NJ
LISTINGS OF CO-PACKERS & COMMERCIAL KITCHENS
FOOD INDUSTRY MEDIA
CONSUMER CROWDFUNDING
EQUITY CROWDFUNDING
Article about equity crowdfunding (source: Crowdcrux)
ANGELS
PITCH COMPETITIONS
FoodBytes by Rabobank
Slow Money Good Food Spotlight
Great list of competitions by type from RealFoodMBA
TRADE ORGANIZATIONS & SHOWS
Project Nosh:Conferences, content and a job board (part of BevNet)
New Hope Network: This the company behind the two large-scale natural and organic food industry trade shows. Expo East in Boston or Baltimore during Fall and Expo West in Anaheim. Publishes several industry newsletters and features a great resources section on their site.
Specialty Food Association: SFA organizes Winter Fancy Food in San Francisco and Summer Fancy Food Show in NYC
INBIA is a non-profit organization that provides education, global collaboration, mentorship and best practices in business incubation.
GMA (Grocery Manufacturers Association)
New York State Restaurant Association
New York State Small Food Processors Association
The New York City Hospitality Alliance
FOOD TECHNOLOGY
Sandy Cook: Sandy is a CRC (Certified Research Chef) with RCA (Research Chefs of America) and holds a BS In Food Science from Rutgers University
P: 609 580 4410
email: technochef1@gmail.com
Institute of Food Technologists
You can use the IF database to ‘find a food scientist “ in your area. The database is comprised of IFT members and Food Science Ambassadors who are willing to provide more information about the field of food science and point you in the right direction. IFT’s website also offers a services directory
INVESTMENT SOURCES
Great directory on funding sources for food business (Michigan State University)
ARIZONA
Cook Tucson, Tucson
CALIFORNIA
Crafted Kitchen, Los Angeles
Forage Kitchen, Oakland
LA Prep, Los Angeles
Oceanside Commercial Kitchen, Oceanside
La Cocina, San Francisco
Sae Kitchen, San Marcos
Kitchentown, San Mateo
The Food Factory, Sacramento
The Kitchen Terminal, Redondo Beach
CANADA
The Cauldron Kitchen, Inc., Ottawa
COLORADO
Kitchen Coop, Broomfield
FLORIDA
The Kitchen 24, Oldsmar
MISSOURI
Ennovation Center, Independence
The Creative Cookery, St. Louis
NEBRASKA
The Kitchen Council, Omaha
PENNSYLVANIA
YorKitchen, York
RHODE ISLAND
Pilotworks, Providence
Hope & Main, Warren
TENNESSEE
Citizen Kitchens, Nashville
TEXAS
Pilotworks, Dallas
MARYLAND
B-More Kitchen, Baltimore
TPSS Community Kitchen, Takoma Park
MASSACHUSSETS
Worcester Regional Food Hub, Worcester
CommonWealth Kitchen, Dorchester
MICHIGAN
Can Do Kitchen, Kalamazoo
Detroit Kitchen Connect, Detroit
Flint Food Works, Flint
Proud Mitten Shared Kitchen, Plymouth
MINNESOTA
City Food Studio, Minneapolis
Kindred Kitchen, Minneapolis
Kitchen in the Market, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Sprout, Little Falls
GEORGIA
PREP, Atlanta
SHARED KITCHENS, Decatur
ILLINOIS
The Hatchery, Chicago
Pilotlight, Chicago
INDIANA
Art House, Gary
CookSpring, Fort Wayne
Indy's Kitchen, Indianapolis
Nana Clares Kitchen, Valparaiso
Venture Out Business Center, Madison
One World Kitchen Share, Bloomington
KENTUCKY
Incubator Kitchen Collective, Newport
Chef Space, Louisville
LOUISIANA
Acadiana Commissary Kitchen, Lafayette
Acadiana Incubator Kitchen, Lafayette
La Cucina, Lake Charles
New Orleans Food & Farm Network, New Orleans
MAINE
Fork Food Lab, Portland
MEETUPS (mostly NYC metro)
Community Table - A monthly round table discussion for Food Entrepreneurs, Students, Consultants, Investors, Eaters – anyone in the food space interested in sharing problems and ideas, getting and giving feedback and making meaningful connections. Held at NYU. Contact Patricia Duffy for info.
VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS
Co-Packer Consultants
Tell them what you need and they try to help you find a manufacturer.
The Best Part? It's free! The manufacturers pay them.
Sean Lippay, Strategic Solutions
Ricardo Cordero, Ricardo Food Group