Council to rent kitchens to firms
The local authority is also planning to complete similar kitchen amenities in its north and West Cork divisions, through its Economic Development Fund (EDF) in an effort to allow such businesses to produce more.
Ger Power, the council’s head of finance, said the kitchens will be built at a council-owned building at Kilnaglery Business Park in Carrigaline.
“We will be going out to tender next week for fitting out the kitchens. We hope to have them opened by the end of the year and we will rent them out to food producers by the hour.
“We haven’t decided on how much we will charge yet, but it will be very attractive,” Mr Power said.
He said the facility will be a test model and had come about because of discussions between the council and small-time producers.
“A lot of food producers operate in their own small kitchens and are struggling to meet HSE requirements and to make bigger batches. This will enable them to scale up by offering them larger facilities.”
He said that no exact locations had yet been chosen for the other kitchens but if they prove successful, the council will consider building even more.
The council has been looking to use the EDF to help businesses which can’t get aid from other State agencies and is keen to focus in on Cork food producers.
Last March, in conjunction with South Cork Enterprise Board, they brought eight medium-sized food producers to the International Food Event in London.
“To date, our eight Cork producers have recorded more than €500,000 in export sales,” Mr Power said.
He said following on from that success, the council planned to sponsor more food producers to attend such events.
