We provide critical infrastructural resources that small food businesses are unable to acquire independently, mostly due to the significant upfront investment that would be required. Having access to these resources sustains the small agricultural businesses of our region and helps to strengthen our local economy. Read more below about the variety of services offered.
Send us a quick note about your needs!
Our commercial kitchen features large-scale food processing equipment and can accommodate caterers, value-added processors, and community-scale preservation efforts. It can serve multiple users at once or be rented out for exclusive use. We can provide the licensing, labor, packaging, and labeling necessary to transform raw ingredients into delicious, value-added products. Please note: As of Spring 2024, we are relocating facilities and rental of our commercial kitchen is currently paused.
A major challenge our region faces right now is the lack of cold storage facilities. The nearest large-scale rental facilities are in Albany and Vermont, which are long and expensive hauls for producers and moves food out of our region- and even those are nearing capacity. Our climate-controlled storage is available for processed goods, ingredients, packaging, and other products. Depending on the volume of space required, rentals can be secured for amounts by bin, rack, or pallet.
We coordinate cooperative purchasing of inputs and supplies. This helps relieve small businesses of the administrative burden of managing to these accounts and minimizes their independent costs by sharing registration costs, shipping fees, and minimum requirements when spread across multiple businesses.
We support producers to access markets, including our own brick and mortar retail markets. In 2023, we started marketing efforts on behalf of our wholesale customers and are actively working to create and expand market opportunities for our region's small food businesses throughout the Adirondacks, Capital Region, and as far south as NYC. To reach these markets, we provide weekly last-mile delivery service, connecting producers to more than 150 restaurants, groceries, and individuals.
We provide permanent production space for multiple well-established, value-added food producers in our region. This allows them an affordable home with convenient access to all of the shared resources housed under our roof, as well as a community to connect with other small value-added producers!
"Farmers Cone Creamery would never have become more than an idea without our community food hub. Shared access to critical infrastructure- like kitchen space, cold storage, retail opportunity, and delivery logistics- is so important to supporting producers."
- Holly Rippon-Butler, Owner, Farmers Cone Creamery
Proud member of Adirondack Harvest
© Essex Food Hub. All Rights Reserved.