Central Kitchen is a Cleveland-based craft-food business accelerator that helps entrepreneurs take products from concept to market through education, shared commercial kitchens and scale-up facilities. Its community includes more than 500 course participants and has helped create over 400 products and 400 jobs, with a 3,600-square-foot incubator kitchen and a 137,500-square-foot Food Hub for growing brands. Sixty percent of its clients are minorities or women.
Community Kitchen PittsburghSince opening its doors in 2013, Community Kitchen Pittsburgh has used food to provide no-cost culinary job training, employment pathways, and hunger relief. The Pittsburgh nonprofit combines hands-on production—including catering and contract meals—with apprenticeships and job placement, helping more than 600 community members move into stable culinary or related work. Its social enterprises fund about 65% of operations, turning everyday food purchases into support for training and community meals.PITTSBURGH, PA
The Home PantryKnown in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood for its award-winning jam, The Home Pantry is a local food maker with a fresh deli presence at the West Side Market. It also prepares custom grazing tables for events and creates packaged gifts for workplaces and celebrations.CLEVELAND, OH
New Horizons Food SolutionsNew Horizons Food Solutions is a Columbus-based contract food manufacturer and ingredient blending partner producing custom food products for commercial-scale programs. The company describes itself as minority-owned and women-led, with a family legacy, and supports customers from product development through production and delivery.COLUMBUS, OH
Signature Kettle CraftedSignature Kettle Crafted grew out of the Stancato family’s restaurant business, where founder Perry Stancato used his Culinary Institute of America training to bring greater consistency to the kitchen’s recipes. Today, the Ohio company helps restaurant and retail brands turn chef-developed concepts into custom food products, moving from small-batch trials to full-scale production in its SQF Level 2-certified facility.INDEPENDENCE, OH