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Incubator Kitchen Collective to celebrate move with ribbon cutting, proclamation from City of Newport


The Incubator Kitchen Collective (IKC) has moved to a new location at 517 W. Seventh Street in Newport.

DesRochers

The collective recently moved from Covington to the larger space with more up-to-date equipment to better serve the needs of the fast-growing local food community.

IKC is the second Newport-based incubator kitchen for the company; “The Hatchery” is located in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 7 Court Street.

“With this larger space we can accommodate even more entrepreneurs than we ever thought possible,” says Rachel DesRochers, founder of IKC. “We are currently working with nearly 30 producers, and we’re constantly getting requests from even more.”

The size of the building will also allow for growth in the form of a regional food distribution/hub center in cooperation with Ohio Valley Food Connection, one of IKC’s tenants.

“This for us is really one of the most exciting business opportunities we can offer to our tenants that they can’t find anywhere else,” says DesRochers.

Also in the works is The Collective Kitchen & Café, a local gathering spot and retail space where The Incubator Kitchen Collective tenants will be able to market their wares as well as serve them to the public. The Café will also serve as an important educational tool.

“We’re looking forward to offering classes, meeting space, and education about the good, local food that’s made in our kitchens,” says DesRochers.

To celebrate the additions to the community, The City of Newport will be issuing a proclamation during the ribbon cutting ceremony of the IKC today at 10:15 a.m.

The kitchen will also be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for tours and food sampling from some of the kitchen’s 26 tenants.

To oversee the development growth, DesRochers has hired Tristan Crigger, former head of Findlay Market’s Local Foods Department as Chief Operations Officer.

Incubator Kitchen Collective was started in September 2013 by DesRochers, who is also the owner of Grateful Grahams.

She wanted to create a shared kitchen space to support food entrepreneurs. There are systems in place to help businesses generate regional sustainability – from farmers markets to national retailers and there are currently four kitchens in the Collective.

For more information, visit www.incubatorkitchencollective.org

Incubator Kitchen Collective


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