Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen (NOCK)

Born out of Northwest Ohio's rich tradition in fruit and vegetable production and food processing, the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen focuses on the development and production of specialty, value added foods. The Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen (NOCK) is a nonprofit commercial kitchen facility designed to assist entrepreneurial efforts and expand current food-related businesses. The kitchen facility assists new and growing businesses by providing access to a commercially licensed kitchen, networking opportunities with other like entities and technical assistance. The kitchen incubator's services and resources bridge the gap between an idea and reality. It is costly to start a small-scale food manufacturing operation when exploring a food based venture. However, new and growing businesses can avoid this initial expenditure by utilizing the commercial kitchen until the business is viable and ready to graduate to its own manufacturing facility. The kitchen facility maintains a baking and canning license and is approved by both the Wood County Health Department and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Therefore, most of the foods produced in the kitchen can be marketed and sold in local, regional, and national markets. At this time, the facility cannot accommodate products with meat or alcohol. All ingredients must be fit for human consumption. The commercial kitchen is approximately 560 square feet and includes an additional dry storage area measuring approx. 90 sq. ft. Available equipment includes a six burner stove, bakery depth convection oven, tilting braiser, Hobart mixer with attachments, refrigerator and freezer, 3 compartment sink, vegetable prep sink, a hand wash sink, dry storage racks, stainless steel work surfaces, proofing box, and rolling racks.

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