Kaptur Tours Regional Culinary Incubator with Local Restaurateurs

Calls for commercial development of local food products supporting job creation

TOLEDO, OH—Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur toured the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen (NOCK) with local restaurateurs recently. The visit was intended to raise awareness about business services offered at the culinary incubator for bringing unique local food products to the broader commercial marketplace. Among those attending the session were culinary entrepreneurs specializing in African-American, Greek-American, and Polish American cuisine.

"As our region considers how to create more jobs, turning local food recipes into products for the commercial marketplace makes a lot of sense,” said Kaptur. “Our area is a fertile source of ideas for foods that could be developed for commercial sale. Our cultural and ethnic diversity can be a real strength along these lines as well. Remember, new products mean new jobs.”

The Northwest Ohio Kitchen, available through the generosity of the Hirzel family that owns Dei Fratelli branded products, has been advising culinary artists for years. The facility enables prospective commercial product developers at the start-up stage to use the fully equipped kitchen to make sample runs, can, pack, and label at very reasonable costs.

Staff advisors from the Center for Innovative Food Technology also work with prospective product developers to properly prepare the product to be shelf ready. This includes labeling of ingredients and advising how to assure the product meets Food and Drug Administration quality standards.

“Think about the many local products that already have been created and marketed to a broader audience from our region,” Kaptur added. “Packo's Pickles and Sauces, Vito's Pizza, Betty's dressing, Willy's Salsa, Christie's Candies, Barry's Bagels, Garlic Expressions, and Hungarian Noodles, to name just a few. Public demand for ethnic foods continues to rise. What better way to fill that market niche than from culinary specialists right here in our region."

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