BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Do you have a great idea for a new food item to be sold in the stores but don't have the resources or facilities to get it made?
The Broadway Market will soon be able to help.
In late March, the Broadway Market will begin leasing out a commercial kitchen that is licensed and equipped to make commercial food products for sale in stores like Tops and Wegmans.
The $464,000 "Kitchen @ the Market" is intended to help entrepreneurs get their products to market by leasing the facility for use by the hour.
It is meant to bridge the gap for up and coming food producers who have outgrown their home kitchens.
Equipped with commercial stoves, ovens, cooler and freezers, the kitchen also has enough prep space to accommodate more than one entrepreneur at a time.
General Mills and the United Way provided grant money for the program.
The City of Buffalo selected the Westminster Economic Development Initiative (WEDI) to manage the kitchen.
WEDI already runs the West Side Bazaar which has helped several immigrant/refugees learn to start their own restaurant by using international kitchen space on Grant Street in Buffalo.
The organization will now hire a part-time manager for the Kitchen @ the Market.
In addition, WEDI can help entrepreneurs get financing.
Benjamin Bissell, Executive Director for WEDI, said the commercial food entrepreneur program at the Broadway Markets is open to anyone, and there are approximately 40 applicants already interested.
Applications can be submitted by contacting WEDI. WEDI website
7 Eyewitness News Reporter Ed Reilly has more on this new program in the attached video clip.
