Cork Incubator Kitchens launched to help start-up producers

Cork County Council has fired up industrial-sized kitchens to help start-up producers cook up a storm for bigger markets.

The kitchens, the brainchild of Cork County Council, have opened in Carrigaline following nearly five years of planning and if, as suspected, they prove successful, the local authority has plans to build more in the region.

They are the first local authority-built kitchens in the country and can be rented out day or night. Artisan food producers from as far away as the West Cork peninsulas have signed up to use them.

Rental rates are €15 per hour which includes gas, electricity, and cleaning products.

The building of Cork Incubator Kitchens (CIK) was driven by the council’s economic, enterprise and tourism directorate, which is headed by Sharon Corcoran.

She said the fully-equipped bakery and catering kitchens, located in Carrigaline Industrial Estate, are designed to the highest standards and health and food safety regulations.

Equipment in the buildings includes refrigerators, blast chillers, fogging machines, tilting bratt pan, vacuum packers, sealing machines and Zanolli deck ovens, which ensure that the kitchens have all the necessary facilities for expanding food producers.

There is also support provided by the Food Safety Company, which has been contracted to run day-to-day management of the facilities.

Patricia O’Flaherty, who runs A Touch of Magic bakery company, said she would be using the facility in the coming months as she expanded her cake and confectionery business.

Patricia O’Flaherty, A Touch Of Magic and Brendan Russell, Cork Incubator Kitchens at the launch of CIK

Meanwhile, Athula Kuruppuachchige will use them to develop his range of recently-launched sauces.

Other CIK clients include catering companies, chefs and bakers who are market-testing, developing produce for food markets and growing their food enterprises before investing in their own kitchen equipment.

With facilities like CIK and the support infrastructure in the region, Cork is ideally positioned to lead Ireland’s agri-economy,” said Mayor of Cork County, Cllr Seamus McGrath.

Further information from corkincubatorkitchens.ie