Quoted message said:Two common aspects to some existing operations seem to be the
requirement that the users of the facility meet local sanitation
training requirements (in my area's case, ServSafe), and that each
individual have liability insurance, with the facility listed as an
'additional insured'. But a contract that ties together all the
details into a signed agreement would also be neecessary to not only
cover liability issues, but also to outline expectations of conduct,
terms of payment, a non-competition clause, et.al.
Your liability will never be seperate from your clients. If they use your
facility, you are providing the means by which your vendors create a
liability concern. In terms of vendor injuries in your facility, OSHA
requirements are going to be another big hurdle. You will need to comply
with their safety standards and the local OSHA office will be as frequent an
inspector as the local, state, and (depending on production) federal food
agencies. Although each vendor is not your employee, you still are required
to provide the same level of protection and compliance as any production or
factory facility.
You will be spending hours each day making sure that each vendor is being
properly monitored for compliance with health regulations. You will be up to
your eyeballs in paper work making sure that all vendors are properly
logging each step of their food handling. YOU are the one that the
inspectors will demand proof of proper temperature, sanitation, and storage
for each vendor.
Basically, you are taking on about 60% OR MORE of the huge overhead of a
large restaurant. What you are proposing will involve not just the local
health dept., but also various *state* food agencies. Each will require
specific plans, based on HAACP requirements, for every vendor wishing to use
your facility. And a lot of these vendors won't have the skill to put that
kind of plan together, so plan on a huge amount of hands on. And if ANY
vendor proposes selling packaged food on the internet, or across state
lines, then you also have to have your facility certified by the Federal
agencies and answer to their inspectors as well.
Certification of a commercial kitchen, community based or not, is not the
same for every commercial kitchen. If you are planning on having packaged or
bottled foods or sauces, than that requires a whole different level of
compliance than a kitchen preparing food for immediate sale or resale
(concession wagons).
An example among dozens: Sewer providers, whether run by the county, city,
or a public utility district, will require extensive pre-filtering of grey
water before it enters the sewer system. For me, it required installing a
1000 gallon septic tank type of vault in-ground, which had baffles to keep
grease and food particles out of the sewer. Every six months, the city
required that the tank be inspected ($250.00) and pumped if necessary (add
another $125.00). Periodic inspection for compliance will occur, and YOU are
the one that is responsible.
I don't even want to get into the costs of multi-user production equipment
and the amount of routine maintenance it requires to provide assurance of
safe operation and safe food preparation. And whether or not the vendor is
responsible for sanitizing the equipment after use, YOU are the one that
will be inspecting it and agonizing over whether you can be assured that the
next user won't have his food production run contaminated from some small
oversight.
There is a reason why virtually all community kitchens are publicly funded
by county extension offices, cities, states or colleges: It takes a whole
crapload of money to operate with a limited customer base who doesn't have a
lot of money. Even with public funding, there is a high rate of closure with
these facilities.
the one here locally, run by the county extension office, had to close after
3 years of operation.
A vendor that is doing well and making a large income is less likely to need
to rent a community kitchen or commissary, they will build their own for
food resale vending. For things like packaged foods, sauces or syrups, they
hire a factory to make production runs. You're primary target base is the
beginner or the low-level operator, neither of which can afford to pay a fee
schedule that will compensate your overhead, much less give you any profit.
Quoted message said:All that aside, I think giving the community a place to nurture and
grow culinary talents is worth considering. So we'll see where this
leads.
Growing a culinary talent is what a culinary school does. A community
kitchen is nothing more than a place for a vendor to make a product to sell.
I hope that you can get past the the dreamy idealism and look at this
strictly as a business venture. Ideals and dreams won't pay your overhead.
From your last sentence, there is no doubt that you have a whole lot more
research, planning and surveying to do.
Let me be blunt: I wouldn't risk my money in this type of investment. If you
do decide to proceed, I do hope things go well for you.
--
"So long, so long, and thanks for all the fish!"
Dave
www.davebbq.com
