EASTERN Region Business Enterprise and Arts Centre (ERBEAC) has cooked up a plan to grow its kitchen incubation facilities.
The agency is awaiting approval on the purchase of a block of land at Midland Redevelopment Authority’s The Sidings development site to build a facility that will include commercial kitchens for those starting a retail or wholesale catering business.
The plans also include facilities for food manufacturing, preparation and nutrition, and a cafe and shop to sell items prepared on site.
ERBEAC business manager Dean Starbuck said kitchen incubators helped support small to medium-sized businesses.
“There is certainly a demand for these unique kitchen incubators,” he said.
“These kitchens are the next step for small businesses that have outgrown a home based environment but do not quite meet the needs of a larger commercial environment.”
Chairman Mel Congerton believed that the new incubator would position ERBEAC as a “world leader” in kitchen incubation.
There are nine kitchen spaces in the existing facility, where Jean van der Merwe has operated her business, Out of Africa, for about five years.
She said it was ideal for her because it was conveniently located and reasonably priced.