Top Natural Foods Industry Podcast Features D.C. Food Accelerator Union Kitchen and Its Model for Revitalizing Inner-City Food Entrepreneurship
Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk Highlights Cullen Gilchrist, CEO of Union Kitchen, Who Shares About His Revolutionary Ecosystem for CPG Entrepreneurs
BOULDER, Colo. (Feb. 14, 2024) – Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk kicks off 2024 with Episode 35 of its popular podcast series by exploring the impact an innovative food accelerator is having on revitalizing food entrepreneurship in Washington, D.C., with special guest Cullen Gilchrist, CEO of Union Kitchen.
Union Kitchen is a Washington, D.C.-based food business accelerator that strives to empower local food founders by offering expertise and support from launch to scale. Since 2012, Union Kitchen has supported more than 300 brands through its four-phase accelerator and, overall, launches products seven times faster than the national average. In addition to its accelerator, Union Kitchen has six store locations throughout the Washington metro area, with products made locally and throughout the nation.
Union Kitchen connects entrepreneurs with the resources, capital, distribution and networks they need to establish sustainable success with their food businesses. Recently recognized as the "Best Startup Accelerator of 2023" by Startup Savant, Union Kitchen goes beyond being a typical culinary incubator and partners with food businesses of all sizes to grow and accelerate the success of their emerging food and beverage brands. Remarkably, their goal is to take a company from product to being on shelf within only 90 days.
“We started Union Kitchen as a solution to a problem,” says Gilchrist. “Historically, entrepreneurship has been reserved for people with capital and this has created barriers to entry for people who don’t have access to funding. Our model is based on removing this barrier for people who are passionate about food, passionate about business and about feeding their community. We take the financial risk away so as an Accelerator Member they just pay a monthly fee which allows businesses to get started in a way they couldn’t before.”
During the Coffee Talk conversation, Gilchrist shares his recipe for helping businesses launch successful brands. Union Kitchen empowers brands on their journey through four phases: from Launch to National Scale. At each phase brands are given tools and resources they need to seize opportunities, overcome challenges and reach new heights whether a brand is launching locally or ready to saturate nationally.
Phase 1: LAUNCH is about building a cohesive concept, executing the technical elements of a market-ready product and launching into the market.
Phase 2: PRODUCT MARKET FIT is focused on learning what consumers want and how to deliver that consistently through scalable systems, team building and leveraging Union Kitchen’s ecosystem.
Phase 3: GROWTH is expanding a product that has achieved regional product market fit and building the operations to support that.
Phase 4: SCALE is achieving national market penetration by outselling the leading competitors.
Brands that have emerged on the national scene due to Union Kitchen’s support include Compass Coffee, Snacklins, Myles's Comfort Food, Swapples, Aji Tea and many more.
Watch the recorded podcast and learn more about Union Kitchen’s roots, from a small commercial kitchen to their current 50k-square-foot manufacturing facility and how it enables entrepreneurs from all backgrounds to build their businesses.
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About Compass Natural Marketing
Compass Natural is a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Compass Natural’s Coffee Talk podcast is co-hosted by industry veterans Steven Hoffman and Bill Capsalis and features lively interactive conversations with leaders and experts in the natural products space. The podcast is designed to help entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products market. Watch all Coffee Talk episodes on Compass Natural’s YouTube Channel.
Media Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnatural.com, tel: 303.807.1042