Collaboration and education meet at 1400 Food Lab

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen? Launching any business is difficult, but the odds are even harder to beat when attempting to break into the food industry

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Launching any business is difficult, but the odds are even harder to beat when attempting to break into the food industry.

Fortunately for entrepreneurs and foodies in the area, 1400 Food Lab offers resources to accommodate businesses at any stage in the start-up process, as well as individuals interested in learning more about cooking or hosting a culinary event.

“It is really easy to fail in the food industry, and not for lack of a good product,” says 1400 Food Lab General Manager Karen Chrestay. “It’s usually money or it’s regulatory, or legal (problems) that folks just didn’t anticipate, so we are trying, to the extent possible, to help mitigate those risks and those costs for folks so they have a better chance for success.”

Learning the Basics

Those interested in operating a business out of this commercial kitchen and event facility, located at 1400 Dublin Rd., are encouraged to attend paid informational classes offered on-site. The introductory class recommended is Start Your Business: The First 10 Steps to Starting a Food Business.

“There are extensions (of the introductory class) that will do more of a deep dive into legal matters, marketing, how to find investors, how to do a crowd-funding campaign and other things like how to do packaging, labeling, butchering, when you get into actual cooking,” says Chrestay.

Though anyone can attend the classes posted on www.1400foodlab.com, there are several specifically designed to benefit existing clients of the food lab. These classes are only posted internally, with the exception of How to Teach a Cooking Class.

“How to Teach a Cooking Class is intended to help cultivate instructors from our existing client base, but we also welcome those not yet affiliated with 1400 Food Lab to take the class with the goal of becoming a client and joining our teaching faculty,” says Chrestay.

Appetizing Attractions

Not a business owner, but still want to take a class? In addition to those aimed at small business owners, there are also several classes for the general public. Create Your Curry, an instructional cooking business operating out of the food lab, offers a series of classes on cooking time-efficient Indian cuisine. Retro Dinner Diva, another existing client, hosts Instant Pot workshops and Fill Your Freezer meal parties that focus on learning how to use a pressure cooker and weekly meal prep.

By organizing classes that showcase the skills its existing clients possess, the food lab is able to promote community outreach and engagement, while also building its clients’ brand recognition.

“We try our best to have makers be the instructors. We don’t reach out into the community—the established food community—as much as we rely on our internal makers because it is another way we see us fulfilling our mission of promoting these young businesses, helping them build brand awareness, getting people familiar with them and their food,” says Chrestay.

There’s also space available to rent for private and corporate events, but under one condition: event and party hosts are required to hire a maker to supply the food. This is just another way 1400 Food Lab works to promote its clients as much as possible.

Starting Out Strong

Jackie Ketchel operates Brittleworks, a nut brittle business, out of the food lab. Though she is no longer a new client, she can remember how supportive the environment was as a new maker in the lab and, even before that, as an individual in an introductory class.

“I’ve always felt so non-judged here,” says Ketchel. “It’s something that I’ve seen over the years. I think that you can always email (1400 Food Lab) and say, ‘What did I just do here? Can you tell me how to fix it?’”

The food lab’s commitment to its clients is evident in the growth of each maker’s business. With a 24-hour kitchen space stocked with necessary equipment, makers have the ability to book their own kitchen space through an online scheduling tool. Makers also have secure on-site storage, including refrigerator, freezer and pantry space. All of these resources allow start-ups to flourish by eliminating obstacles they would face in other kitchen spaces.

Michael Arato is the creator of CafeButter, a breakfast spread infused with single-origin coffee beans, who previously utilized kitchen space at The Ohio State University while obtaining a degree in food science. As one of 1400 Food Lab’s newest makers, he appreciates the flexibility that 24-hour kitchen access offers.

I’ve always felt so non-judged here. It’s something that I’ve seen over the years. I think that you can always email (1400 Food Lab) and say, ‘What did I just do here? Can you tell me how to fix it?'

“There’s professional equipment, it’s really easy to schedule, there’s storage space on the premises, but mainly (I appreciate) the scheduling because, at Ohio State, it was a teaching facility first, so it was more for students,” says Arato. “It was only open 8-5 on school days, here it’s 24 hours; I can come whenever. I like to work at night, so that’s nice for me.”

Growing Together

Along with the kitchen space that clients can rent at the food lab, there’s also a full-service drive-through designed with food trucks in mind.

“When food trucks come in at the end of a shift, they are able to pull in here (and) offload into the kitchen,” says Chrestay. “There are three-compartment sinks and a dish tank back here, so they can do their cleanup, load up and get ready to go for their next gig.”

All along the backside of the building, there are assigned parking spots for food truck clients in a gated and secured lot. Each space in the lot, home to 17 local food trucks and food carts, is equipped with electricity, water and a place to dispose of used water, cooking grease and other waste.

Though it’s not a business on wheels, Bentos Lunch is a client that has successfully moved through the different stages of support the lab offers. Bentos Lunch started out in the hourly kitchen two years ago and has since moved to the food lab’s private kitchen space with the growth of their unique catering service.

“(Bentos Lunch) was making about 20, 30 meals a week. They are a meal delivery service, individually packaged meals, and now they are churning out close to 1,200 meals a week,” says Chrestay. “We moved them into their private kitchen space back in October of last year. They will be here for two to three years, (and) at that point Shannon Bowman, the owner, will make a determination whether she feels like she’s ready for her own brick and mortar, and we will help her through that process as well. And then this space will rotate to the next maker that is ready to take that step.”

Jenny Wise is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at jwise@cityscenemediagroup.com.