ORLANDO, Fla. – A kitchen incubator has opened its doors to small businesses looking to get off the ground here in Central Florida.
From empanadas to cakes and Nigerian cuisine, the Orlando Kitchen Incubator (OKI) has a diverse group of clients growing their businesses through its services.
OKI is a full-service, insured, commercial kitchen space for local businesses to help establish their operations.
Nike Ereinwale is owner of Delightful Nigerian Cuisine and opted to get her start with the help of the Orlando Kitchen Incubator.
“This is a great space for every startup,” Ereinwale said. “If I had to do it again, I would choose this place again.”
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She said without OKI, it would have been more difficult to get her business started in a traditional brick-and-mortar setting.
“It would be impossible, because with the brick-and-mortar restaurant like the dining — which is my dream — of course, with that, you need to get permits for everything,” Ereinwale said. “They need to inspect everything, you know, before you can even start anything. So that takes a longer time. OK, well, here, you already have the license, we already have all the permits, all we just need to do is to get our business permits, which, you know, takes just a couple of weeks and that’s it.”
OKI provides businesses with storage space, walk-in coolers and freezers, workspaces, and commercial kitchen appliances like gas stoves. But it also provides people with the resources, help and support they need when it comes to proper permitting and marketing consulting.
“People come in, sometimes they don’t know what permits to get,” said Miami Kitchen Incubator and Orlando Kitchen Incubator CEO Christian Soler. “Catering licenses, they don’t know where to apply. Insurance, different things that we can help them on the business side. "
Soler said the kitchen’s community component is a big part of what makes OKI so special.
“It helps bring people together, because they need it,” Soler said. “You know they need it. They’re all going through the same struggles and they can share the same happiness, you know? So, community is a big part of it.”
If you’re looking to break into the food industry with a concept of your own, click here to learn more about the services provided by Orlando Kitchen Incubator.
