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Hatch Kitchen RVA is located at 2601 Maury St. outside Manchester. (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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Future space of the patio and garden at Hatch Kitchen (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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Hatch Kitchen RVA is a 20,000-square-foot commissary-style kitchen set to open Aug. 1. (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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The future walk-in freezer space at Hatch Kitchen is expansive at 32 feet by 12 feet. (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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Location of the future walk-in fridge at Hatch Kitchen RVA (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
An uninhabited area of the city will soon serve as a land of opportunity for small-business owners in the food and beverage sector. Hatch Kitchen RVA, a hybrid, commissary-style kitchen space and incubator for local entrepreneurs, is set to open its doors at 2601 Maury St., part of the Clopton Siteworks development, on Aug. 1.
The area, formerly the Philip Morris Tobacco Warehouse Complex, is owned and being developed by Lynx Ventures and Rick Gregory, a partner of Hatch Kitchen, and is home to 26 20,000-square-foot historic timber-frame warehouses that are being repurposed with small businesses in mind.
Austin Green, co-founder of Texas Beach Bloody Mary Mix, and Brad Cummings, co-founder of Startup Virginia, are behind the venture, after identifying a bustling local food and beverage startup culture with no signs of slowing down, but lacking space and resources.
“There was a critical need for space for food and beverage startups, and how we don’t have that here is crazy,” says Cummings. “Dedicated space for them is key. You have these folks working in someone else’s kitchen, stealing an hour or two in a space, or working in their friend's basement ... we want to get them together and create critical mass.”
The building will house an enormous open kitchen with equipment and prep tables, room for dry storage, a walk-in fridge (23 feet by 12 feet) and freezer (32 feet by 12 feet), a loading dock, and pods for businesses that need their own dedicated space.
The vision is to bring together like-minded individuals going through the same process who can share ideas, network, learn and grow. Cummings refers to the experience as “positive collision.”
“Two companies who don’t know each other realize they are trying to overcome the same problems, and they can share war stories ... they never would’ve met if they weren’t in the same space,” says Cummings.
The emphasis on community is echoed by Green.
“We're kind of setting up a model for them to be successful, because if they aren’t, then we’re not successful,” says Green. “We're built into this model where we're right there with them, and we're all in it together.”
For many startups the beginning phases of business are the most difficult. Food trucks struggle with finding a space to store their vehicles or cook their products; a jam company may be unsure about the types of containers they should use for packaging; and a business doing well may not know the best approach for meeting with potential investors.
Hatch Kitchen, say its founders, wants to be the shoulder for these businesses to lean on and, more importantly, a community center for businesses and entrepreneurs to gather under one roof and help one another.
“All these businesses could do it all themselves and figure it out, but it’s not necessary or smart,” says Green. “Our mantra is we need to be helping companies grow faster and smarter than they would without us, and if we're doing that consistently we're doing our jobs.”
Green says Hatch Kitchen's resources will set the business apart from other commissary-style kitchens in the area such as Kitchen Thyme. Hatch Kitchen will offer business classes taught by Startup Virginia and The Apple Cart, along with educational resources that members can utilize free of charge. In addition, members will have access to mentors, investors and marketers at Startup Virginia.
“I think that the Startup Virginia aspect of this is valuable, and there’s people interested in investing in businesses, and a lot of them are interested in the food and beverage scene,” says Green. “It’s really bringing it all together. We want to be a hub, not only for people to make their product, but a place for them to get information and figure out aspects of their business.”
Green recalls a packaging dilemma he and his partner faced when starting Texas Beach Bloody Mary Mix in 2015. They opted for a cheaper option, and it was a disaster — the bottles, produced at 180 degrees, were too hot, and the labels shrunk when placed on the glass. The result was an unsellable product, Green and his partner learned the hard way.
“It was a complete loss,” says Green. “It’s little silly things like that you don’t know about until it happens because nobody is there to help you. We’ve provided sort of an entire network of resources so [Hatch Kitchen members are] not blindly going into this.”
Hatch Kitchen envisions a diverse group of businesses and entrepreneurs using the space: new businesses taking first steps, old businesses searching for fresh ideas and partnerships, businesses drawn to the community atmosphere, and even businesses outside of the city.
“You might even see some companies move to Richmond to take advantage of that kitchen space," he adds, "especially as it grows and provides more and more services. In order to distinguish ourselves from any other food commissary or to attract people to Richmond, we needed to offer more than a place to cook.”
Hatch Kitchen allows businesses to purchase membership access to the space on a month-to-month basis with no lease required. Various price levels offer different amenities. For example, a la carte members have full access to the space and programs, while satellite members just have access to programs, meeting space and events. The memberships range from $200 to $2,000 a month, and some offer 24/7 access to the site.
Hatch Kitchen will also have a cafe open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. where members can sell their products directly to consumers. At night the space will be used for pop-up dinners, special events, cooking classes or a meeting space.
A major component of Hatch Kitchen is plans for packaging and e-commerce on the premises, which Green cites as the biggest obstacle he faced when starting his own business.
“Finding the right people to partner with on that end is very tricky, and if I could’ve just gone to somebody who had done it before and given me a little guidance, I could have saved thousands of dollars and time,” he says.
The goal is to keep the packaging space modular so that businesses are able to can, bag, box, bottle and ship products on site — a one-stop shop.
Outside of Hatch Kitchen is an outdoor space that Green says will eventually encompass a patio and garden. There is a vision for the parking lot in front of the building to be used for a food truck court, adjacent to an area where members can house their food trucks.
There will be room for 34 to 40 businesses when Hatch Kitchen opens its doors, with potential to expand to neighboring warehouses in Clopton Site Works in the future. Hatch Kitchen has reached out to Reynolds Community College about hiring culinary students to gain hands-on experience in cooking, prep work and distribution.
Cummings believes Hatch Kitchen offers possibilities for everyone involved.
“If we can say we are consistently creating high-growth companies and consumer-packaged foods and companies showing success, we all win — Richmond wins,” he says. “Don’t make [businesses] jump over hurdles that we can help them clear. More peace, love, understanding and working together is what we need.”
