The Toronto Food Business Incubator
133 Rivalda Road
416-401-8888

So, you’ve got a great idea for a food product. You’ve done your research, studied the market, and put together a business plan. You’re sure you’ve got a hit on your hands. But what’s your next step? Where do you find the space to actually make your product? You might want to check out the program at the Toronto Food Business Incubator (TFBI) - a new not for profit facility that offers low-volume local food entrepreneurs the assistance and guidance to take their ideas from the business plan stage straight through to getting the products into the marketplace – either onto restaurant tables or retailers’ shelves.

Now before you pick up the phone and request an application, please note this is not the place for those who want to fast-track their grandmother’s prize-winning strawberry jam recipe onto Loblaws’ shelves in six months.

“Sometimes we are approached by people who just aren’t ready for us yet,” says Heather MacDonald, General Manager of the TFBI. “But we do offer guidance and suggest what steps are necessary so that they can come back to us when they are ready to for what the Incubator program is all about.”

For a one-time fee of $750, the TFBI provides its members with an intense and wide-ranging program that includes the shared, scheduled use of a commercial-grade kitchen and industry-standard equipment for food preparation and packaging (including storage space for each individual’s bulk ingredients and materials). The TFBI offers consulting services to its members in the areas of business, marketing, sales, IT, human resources, and accounting. The TFBI will also hook up their members with specialists in the field for such services as higher-volume manufacturing, branding, public relations, and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points - a systematic, preventive approach to food safety, pharmaceutical safety, etc.).

In addition, every month the participating food entrepreneurs come together to exchange updates and mentor their colleagues through shared experience. These break-out sessions discuss ideas and leads for sourcing ingredients, machinery, and suppliers - internal networking and collaboration that complements the external industry networking that the industry specialist provides.

Laura Boston, a TFBI member and president of Animal Sense Pet Products Inc. has just launched Gobbles™ – unique organic dog treats that are also human grade. Currently available in liver flavour and chicken-cranberry, Gobbles™ can now be found at boutique pet shops throughout the city. (Note to Ms. Boston: Send a couple of sample bags to Paris Hilton. And Oprah. I smell a tasty hit.)

Other members currently taking part in the TFBI program include Bubbling Spring Kitchen with their ready-to-eat and macrobiotic quality food products comprising ultra-fresh and super-healthy patties and “pressed” salads. This writer was offered a sampling of a nori-wrapped triangle of organic rice molded around a filling of green onion and miso. I wish I’d taken two of these, they’re that good. Bubbling Spring’s products can be purchased at local health food shops including The Big Carrot and Noah’s Natural Foods.

The Cocoa House has developed their signature product at the TFBI, the “breakfast cookie” – a nutritionally sound way to provide kids (and adults) “fuel for the day”.

The TFBI can accommodate 9 to 13 members at a time as well as associate members – those who have advanced beyond some of what the TFBI has to offer, but who still wish to stay involved with the program. One such associate member is Eat-In Foods Inc. specializing in frozen, ready-to-eat entrées of various cuisines.

It’s a friendly and inspiring place with an emphasis on using supplies and products procured locally wherever possible. Looks like this incubator is well on its way to a bright future of hatching and supporting successful new food businesses in the GTA and beyond.