Detroit Kitchen Connect

Detroit Kitchen Connect, an Eastern Market Partnership program, supports a diverse group of entrepreneurs doing what they love and contributing to Detroit’s growing good food system. In collaboration with local partners, we seek to make kitchens more accessible and turn neighborhoods into food entrepreneurship hubs. We make this possible through technical assistance, workshops, and other startup services.

INTERESTED IN APPLYING TO DETROIT KITCHEN CONNECT?
REGISTER FOR OUR INFORMATIONAL CLASS HERE!

Apply Now

Budding food entrepreneurs need love and funding. Happily, Detroit Kitchen Connect provides a supportive, interactive environment where food entrepreneurs can seek funding. Eastern Market Partnership and FoodLab-Detroit have joined forces to facilitate greater product quality and long-term success. They provide support in the following forms: 

  • Sharing connections to licensed commercial kitchens
  • Offering resources for increasing production volumes with growing customer demand
  • Ensuring that practices meet the Michigan Cottage Food Law requirements
  • Providing entrepreneurial classes and production assistance for navigating the licensing process, scaling business production, and connecting to other growing food businesses in the region

Interested in applying to Detroit Kitchen Connect? Register for our informational class here!

Eastern Market Partnership offers several grant programs to help people whose new business ideas are bigger than their resources. Thanks to JPMorgan Chase, our lead sponsor of the Detroit Kitchen Connect program.

Interested in renting the kitchen for a one-off event? Learn more here.

Start Your Food Business

IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING STARTING A FOOD BUSINESS AND ARE
INTERESTED IN RENTING SPACE IN ONE OF THE DETROIT KITCHEN CONNECT LICENSED KITCHENS, HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

Register for and attend one of the DKC Informational Workshops held at Eastern Market. The workshops are currently held on Zoom: Jan 14th, Feb 18th and March 18th. The workshop is $15 to attend. You cannot apply for any DKC kitchen spaces until you have completed the workshop.

Soon you will be able to Click here to sign up

  • You must complete ALL of the following BEFORE applying for kitchen space:  
    • Complete a ServSafe Food safety course and receive a ServSafe Certificate (register at PIC Food Safety for the 1 day course; cost is $195.00); you will need to attach your ServSafe Certificate to you application. PICFoodSafety.com
    • Register your business (cost varies depending on what type of business you establish; application can be found at LARA https://www.michigan.gov/lara/); this process will provide you with the necessary EIN/Tax ID Number you will need for your business; you will need to attach a copy of your registration (i.e. LLC, DBA, etc.) to your application.
  • After being ACCEPTED into a Detroit Kitchen Connect kitchen:
    • First, you will fill out the DKC Intake Form and pay the $200-$300 deposit Depending on which kitchen you are accepted in, you will pay this AFTER your application is accepted but before you begin working in a DKC kitchen.
    • Second, Purchase insurance (DKC requires a $1 Million general liability policy that names whichever DKC kitchen you work out of as co-insured); such insurance policies generally run between $300-$500 per year and will be required by many events, retailers, vendors, and businesses you work with; you will need to attach a copy of your insurance policy to your application.
    • Third, apply for and be inspected for your Food License through Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development or your local health department; you cannot utilize any DKC kitchen space until you have been inspected and approved by MDARD.
    • Fourth, create Standard Operating Procedures and Critical Control Points for making your product; you will need these for your MDARD inspection/licensing.

ADDITIONAL THINGS TO CONSIDER:

  • You will need an email account
  • You will need a business bank account
  • You will need packaging
  • You will need MDARD approved labels on your packaging
  • You may need nutrition facts on your packaging
  • You may need an allergen certificate. Your inspector will tell you if this is required.
  • You will need to know:
    • Who will make the product?
    • What is the shelf life of your product?
    • What is the cost of your product(s)?
    • What is retail or wholesale asking price?
    • Who is your target market? (Retail or Wholesale)
    • How will you distribute your product?
    • How are you planning on sourcing the ingredients?
    • You will need NFS approved equipment for making/storing products.
    • You will need a clear, scalable recipe.
    • You will need a list of and source for any specialized equipment you require (all equipment must be PRE-APPROVED by PIC Food Safety, Eastern Market’s kitchen management entity).

Mentorship. If you  need assistance starting a food business contact FoodLab, MSU Product Center, Techtown Detroit, Build Institute, ProsperUS Detroit, Accounting Aid Society our partners are available to help.

Interested in renting the kitchen for a one-off event? Learn more here.

Affiliate Kitchens

Mission

Detroit Kitchen Connect exists to provide reliable, accessible spaces for local entrepreneurs to process high-quality food products in a diverse and collaborative community environment.

We are committed to:

Providing pathways to good food entrepreneurship: by working to provide additional financial and technical assistance support to ensure that DKC is accessible to entrepreneurs in various economic levels, including traditionally marginalized populations.

Access: to quality food from “dirt-to-table & dirt-to-store” so that all community members have access to healthy quality foods grown and made in Detroit and the Metro Area.

Food Entrepreneurship: growing sustainable businesses that have the resources, knowledge & expertise to scale businesses in the food sector.