Kitchen Collective: An evaluation and needs assessment

Transcription

1 Kitchen Collective: An evaluation and needs assessment Kitchen Collective In collaboration with Integrated Food Studies, Aalborg University CPH March 2016 Supported by Young Enterprise Danmark

2 Introduction The food culture in European cities such as London and Berlin is very different from the one seen in Copenhagen. These cities have food courts, pop-up kitchens, street kitchens and an abundance of convenience food products. This culinary variety is unusual in Copenhagen s gastronomic scene, mainly due to the fact that culinary entrepreneurs face very high establishment costs - a major barrier to enter this field. In order to cook and sell food officially, a culinary entrepreneur is required access to a professional, industrial kitchen certified by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration. Whether rented or owned, an industrial kitchen involves high start-up costs as well as revenue, which prevents minor and/or new culinary entrepreneurs from testing their ideas and productions on a smaller scale. This highlights the need for an alternative to the establishment of individual industrial kitchens; this is how Kitchen Collective (KC) fills the gap. As a shared kitchen, KC allows culinary entrepreneurs to test gastronomic ideas and productions in certified facilities. By enabling smaller culinary productions to be tested on the market, KC creates a space that is possible to rent at a fair price for a variety of individuals including chefs, food photographers, street food vendors, entrepreneurs selling specific products and caterers. Creating a culinary start-up can easily become an expensive affair, due to the high cost of investing in kitchen facilities and equipment. Financing these costs through traditional channels is seldom feasible, thus to make ends meet a start-up requires revenue from the getgo, consequently hindering culinary entrepreneurs in realizing their gastronomic ideas. KC provides everything a culinary entrepreneur requires including equipment, storage and a kitchen itself. In turn an entrepreneur pays an annual membership fee and is provided access to the facilities and equipment when required. There is an hourly fee when booking the kitchen, which covers the costs of running a kitchen. This means that the entrepreneur only pays for the time he or she is in the kitchen, and does not have any kitchen costs besides this. In essence, KC is a practical culinary incubator where gastronomic ideas can be tested, developed and produced on a small scale. KC helps culinary entrepreneurs by making their ideas edible in offering them flexible production facilities at an affordable rate. With this initiative, the founders of KC hope to help entrepreneurs break down the barriers of entering the food industry, promoting growth and creating a more diverse food culture in Copenhagen. KC started a collaboration of knowledge sharing with Integrated Food Studies (IFS) in January 2015, and functions as an embedded company at Aalborg University in Copenhagen (AAU Cph). Kitchen facilities were previously established but infrequently used, and the kitchen and an office space have been made available to KC by the university when not used by students. KC has increasingly been growing ever since. Over the past year, KC and AAU Cph have established a collaboration between culinary entrepreneurs, otherwise known as kitcheneurs (KC s own term meaning culinary entrepreneurs working in KC s kitchen), and students on the IFS postgraduate education through the form of academic courses and workshops. Students have carried out projects based on kitcheneurs and 2

3 their business and communication models. In order to further collaborative prospects, KC and IFS applied for funding from the Young Enterprise Danmark fund to further strengthen the collaboration between KC and IFS through the form of academic workshops, where students at IFS use kitcheneurs as real-life cases. The incubator milieu allows for the experimentation of gastronomic ideas, networking and collaboration between kitcheneurs and an educational space for students and kitcheneurs to meet and exchange ideas and potentially become sparring partners in future projects. In allowing IFS students to collaborate with kitcheneurs, students could gain a unique insight into the intricacies of entrepreneurship while actively contributing to the real-life cases. Culinary incubators Kitchen Collective aims to be a culinary incubator, which draws inspiration from hundreds of different incubators around the world. Especially in the US, culinary incubators have been established since the mid-90 s. The incubators come in many different forms and schemes, but a recurrent trait is that they aim to ease the way into the food industries for entrepreneurs with fewer financial resources, granting easier and cheaper access to professional production facilities. Members/users of the culinary incubators are a diverse group: culinary entrepreneurs that want to establish or expand their business; refugees or immigrants that seek guidance in starting their own food business; low-income groups and marginalized people that seek guidance to become independent food business owners, etc. The incubators have various areas of focus, such as the refugees, low-income and marginalized groups, but also local produce and organic products or that the individual entrepreneurs contribute positively to the local community. Culinary incubators are funded through various models. Some are supported by religious associations, some by corporate sponsors (primarily banks as part of a CSR-strategy), some run on private donations. And then there are the ones that are completely market-driven. A report from Econsult Solutions from 2013 on US kitchen incubators shows that of the US culinary incubators that are for-profit, 39% make profits, 57 % break even and 4 % are losing money. Some of the incubators support the culinary entrepreneurs through microloans. KC wants to work on market terms, meaning that KC must be financially sustainable. There are not many restrictions as to whom can become members of KC, as long as the members are running legitimate businesses, adhering to all rules and regulations of food production. KC works with people that are producing food consciously. By that they mean people who have a healthy attitude towards running a business, people who want to work towards a more sustainable production and people that they trust. To KC it does not make sense to set criteria that it has to be organic production or solely based on local produce etc. they rather want to recruit members to KC and inspire them towards sustainable solutions. KC does not want to restrict what type of food production happens in the kitchen, as they believe in diversity in the food industry, and do not want to be the judge of who should and should not be part of the culinary scene. 3

4 Aims of report An evaluation of the first year of KC s existence A needs assessment of kitcheneurs Mapping of future collaboration between IFS and KC The aim of this report can be divided into three parts. Firstly, the report sets out to provide an overall evaluation of the user experience of KC. The second goal is to create a needs assessment of the kitcheneurs currently attached to KC. This entails looking into the current and future requirements of kitcheneurs and investigating how such needs can be fulfilled by KC. Lastly, the report will map how collaboration can be furthered between IFS and KC in the future. Method A combination of quantitative and qualitative data was collected for this report. To gain a general understanding of the user experience at KC, two questionnaires were designed and distributed to kitcheneurs. The first questionnaire was dispersed to all the 44 original kitcheneurs who signed up as members of KC from the get-go in January The second questionnaire was sent to the respondents of the first survey. Once the completed questionnaires were returned to KC, kitcheneurs were categorised into 3 groups: alternative catering, product development and street food. Two kitcheneurs from each group were then selected and interviewed. Semistructured interviews of 30 minutes were carried out in either English or Danish. The data from the interviews was translated from Danish to English and only partially transcribed due to time restrictions. Cited quotes from the transcriptions were then utilised to support key findings of this report. The focus of this report is from January 2015 to January

5 Results Questionnaires and other data The method for collecting quantitative data from the kitcheneurs has been through questionnaires that were sent to all kitcheneurs that have been members of Kitchen Collective. 44 kitcheneurs were identified, of which 6 are now former members of the collective. Furthermore, we have access to a large number of data taken directly from the booking system of KC, meaning we have an exact number of hours that the individual kitcheneurs have booked at the kitchen, when they have booked and so forth, which will be referred to as the dataset. We carried out two rounds of data collection with the questionnaires. In the first round, we asked questions about the kitcheneurs products, their industry affiliation, their target audience, their primary competitors, their potential for expansion, their company structure, their finances, product and business development, which areas they pay special attention to currently and in the future, and how they see their future regarding staying at KC or elsewhere. We also examined if they had had difficulties booking the kitchen when they needed it, and, if so, how they were able to solve the problem. In the first round, we made two different questionnaires, one for current members and one for former members. The reason for this is that we also wanted to examine the future kitchen needs of the kitcheneurs regarding the use of KC - and these questions would not be relevant for former members. We examined how often the kitcheneurs would use the kitchen, which days of the week and time slots they wanted at the kitchen. The second round of questionnaires was sent to all the kitcheneurs who had already filled in the first questionnaire. In the second round we posed questions as to how they see their own industry affiliation - whether they were in the food industry, experience economy, or both - the professional background of the kitcheneurs, and whether or not their food business is full time, and if they have other work or studies on the side not relating to their food business. Of the current 38 members of KC, 20 kitcheneurs responded to the first survey. One former kitcheneur responded to the first round as well, giving us a total of 21 respondents. Of these, 19 kitcheneurs responded to the second round of the survey. Of the 44 total kitcheneurs, we identified 13 that we did not expect an answer from, due to various reasons. Our success criteria were therefore to get as many respondents as possible out of % of the expected respondents filled in the first questionnaires and 61% filled in the second questionnaire. In the quantitative data, we let the respondents be representative for the whole group. 5

6 Kitcheneur profiling Out of the respondents, 80% have used the shared kitchen already, meaning that 20% are members who have not yet used the facilities. The background of this can be that the potential users have not yet had a need for a kitchen and see KC as a possibility when needed. One kitcheneur who had not yet used the kitchen said that he had not yet had the need to use the kitchen, but that he had checked the calendar in the booking system for when he was planning to do so. From informal talks with some of the members, we know that a few kitcheneurs are part of KC just to support what they believe to be a great idea. All in all, from the respondents of the survey, 27 culinary entrepreneurs have used the kitchen in the first year. Counting the kitcheneurs in the dataset 51 individual culinary entrepreneurs have used Kitchen Collective actively in the first year. The composition of users of the kitchen are, according to themselves, 60 % alternative caterers, 35 % street food vendors, 30 % within product development and 5 % food consultants. 30 % categorized themselves as other. The numbers add up to more than 100 % as they were able to check off more than one category. 35 % of the kitcheneurs placed themselves in more than one category. A common trait of the users of KC, with 85 % of the respondents, is that they target private consumers with their products, yet 50 % are targeting other businesses as well. 95 % say that they are part of the food industry, but 53 % also say that they are part of the experience economies. The kitcheneurs are marketing their businesses through various channels. 90 % of them are on Facebook and other social media and of these, 44 % are boosting their posts by paying for them. 35 % have blogged about their company and/or products and 35 % have given out samples of their products. 50 % of the kitcheneur companies have just one owner, 30 % have two owners, 15 % have 3 owners, and 1 kitcheneur company has five owners. 30 % have employees, either permanent or temporal, and 25 % have volunteers helping in the kitchen from time to time. 30 % of the kitcheneurs have needed to expand their staff since joining Kitchen Collective. 43 % of the owners work full-time on their food business, and 60 % have studies or other work on the side that does not relate to the food business directly. Roughly 15 % of the owners have professional training from the food industries (chefs, kitchen assistants, waiters, etc.) and 20 % have a college or university degree within foods. 46 % are academics from outside food areas. Finances It is not possible from our data to generalize about the revenue and turnover of the kitcheneurs, as the questions were left optional to answer and the numbers are incomplete. However, we can 6

7 say that 85 % are financing their business through private savings, whereas 10 % have taken out loans and 5 % have had public funding. 65 %, or 13 of the respondents, already had their food business before they joined KC. Prior to joining KC, 6 of them were cooking from home, 6 were renting other professional kitchens and one was doing all the cooking in the truck, at the venue or at the customer s facilities. In terms of production costs, not one of the kitcheneurs claim that their expenses have lowered remarkably since joining KC, only to some degree, unchanged or a bit higher. However, all the kitcheneurs have either maintained or raised their turnover since joining KC, with 38.5 % saying that their turnover is remarkably higher. Some kitcheneurs were working from home before joining KC. Of course expenses are a bit higher when you need to rent a kitchen compared to working from home, but it is not permitted by the Danish food authorities to run a food business from an uncertified kitchen, wherefore the kitcheneur would have had to join a professional kitchen anyhow at some point. 7

8 The kitcheneurs are generally optimistic about their potential for market expansion, with only 35 % thinking that the potential is just local or regional, and a total of 65 % who see their potential for market expansion as national or international. Product and business development Half of the respondents say that they seek help for product development, meaning 10 kitcheneurs. 70 % consult their friends, 60 % their families, and 50 % consult other chefs. Only one kitcheneur consults their target audience. 9, or 45 %, of the respondents seek external help for their business development. Of them, 89 % consult their friends, 67 % consult their families and 56 % consult their professional network. Areas of special attention We asked questions on which areas the kitcheneurs pay special attention to in their food business now, and which areas they wish to pay special attention to in the future. The areas will here be presented in prioritised order. The percentage in brackets represents the areas the kitcheneurs want to pay special attention to in the future: 1. Product development 70 % (75 %) 2. Organic products 60 % (60 %) 3. Creating and maintaining a loyal customer base 60 % (60 %) 4. Company growth 55 % (65 %) 5. Living out a dream 55 % (50 %) 6. Seasonal products 50 % (50 %) 7. Collaboration with other entrepreneurs 45 % (65 %) 8. Local produce 35 % (60 %) 9. Reducing production time per unit 35 % (40 %) 10. Obtaining larger market shares 35 % (45 %) 11. Supporting oneself financially from a hobby 35 % (35 %) 12. Minimizing waste 30 % (50 %) 13. Minimizing packaging costs 15 % (15%) The areas that diverge most from present to future are the collaboration with other entrepreneurs, which indicates that the KC networking aspect is of importance to the kitcheneurs, and something they want to focus on when their business allows for that, but also environmental sustainability is something that they seem to want to focus on more in the future, in regard to local produce and minimizing waste. Kitcheneurs and Kitchen Collective, now and in the future In prioritized order, these are the reasons that the kitcheneurs have chosen to be part of Kitchen Collective: 8

9 1. The flexibility 60 % 2. The price 55 % 3. The network with other kitcheneurs 50 % 4. It was the only available option for me to get a kitchen 50 % 5. The professional framework 45 % 6. The location 40 % 7. The community feeling 35 % 8. Recommendations from other kitcheneurs 5 % It is remarkable that half of the respondents answered that joining KC was the only option available for them to get a kitchen, meaning that KC offers a unique opportunity. The kitcheneurs were asked how often they experienced the kitchen being booked when they wanted to use it. 80 % answered that it happened sometimes or often, indicating that there is a need for more kitchen space within KC if they want to cater to the needs of all the kitcheneurs. For most of the kitcheneurs the problem of overbooking has been solved by their own flexibility, working at night or renting/borrowing other kitchens, but in a few cases the kitcheneurs have had to say no to clients due to a lack of kitchen facilities. Asked about the future kitchen needs, the respondents have various requirements. Some want to be in the kitchen every week and some only every 6 months. However, April to October is the period where most of them plan to use KC, and mostly during the day and in the evening. Only 15 % of the respondents are planning to use the kitchen during the night (11pm-7am). Tuesday to Friday are the most sought after days to book the kitchen. 9

10 65 % of the respondents say that they will only get their own kitchen if they upscale their business substantially. So as long as there are small-scale producers, KC has its raison d être. 10

11 Interviews with select kitcheneurs Kitcheneurs and Kitchen Collective The kitcheneurs interviewed for this report contributed positive feedback regarding their experience and thoughts on Kitchen Collective. KC has provided many with a chance to start a business without investing in costly equipment and permanent kitchen solutions. For one street food company, this has been essential in many respects: In the beginning [being part of KC], it was a necessity. The idea was great. If I wasn t at KC, I would need to rent a kitchen. That s really problematic. The same kitcheneur went on to say: I think KC saved street food because if not it wouldn t be possible for many, many, many [people, ed.]. The affordable solution of becoming a member at KC was appealing and doable for another kitcheneur too: it was cheap to become a part of KC. In terms of improvements, kitcheneurs commented on a few key issues: a desire for kitchen facilities closer to the city centre, more spacious facilities and more time and flexibility in the schedule in order to use the kitchen for production. As one kitcheneur said: the distance to Sydhavnen is of such an extent, I always consider if I have other options before using KC especially because I don t have a car. Another mentioned that: there were parts where I thought we might not be able to be part of KC anymore because it was very busy at the time we wanted to use it during summertime. Many of the kitcheneurs interviewed are currently expanding rapidly and have potential clients ready to offer contracts where a considerably larger proportion of products or services will be necessary to meet demand. This has implications for kitcheneurs: The only concern is that if our deal goes through with a [major client, ed.], we ll need larger machines, and then we ll need a larger kitchen and as another kitcheneur mentioned: I d like to stay at KC as long as I possibly can in relation to my production. It s difficult to know when there is not going to be enough space and time for me to have my production here though. Potential collaboration between kitcheneurs: networking There is definitely not a lack of interest in the concept of what KC is and does - on the contrary. Apart from the concept of a shared kitchen, kitcheneurs commented on the potential of networking with fellow kitcheneurs and at the network meetings hosted by KC throughout the year. For one kitcheneur, it is a means of potential collaboration: the reason I say yes [to KC, ed.] is that I see value in creating events here at KC and using the facilities around it, and that networking is a valuable tool: Furthermore I am interested in the network. We also got some contacts through KC: people who look into the users of KC and find us as an interesting catering partner. One of our major clients, for instance, came through KC and they re a very valuable customer for us now. For another kitcheneur, who produces fresh juice, collaboration with a food truck kitcheneur is already underway: There s a good feeling between kitcheneurs and we have a good dialogue going with a street food kitcheneur here at KC - he d really like a juice made for his truck. That kind of collaboration is in the pipeline. 11

12 Collaboration for some kitcheneurs does not necessarily have to be about producing products for one another or together, but simply a means of communal work ethos. One kitcheneur suggested the integration of shared tasks ranging from shopping, chopping of ingredients and even administrative responsibilities with fellow kitcheneurs in order to lessen the workload, get to know one another more informally and create a sense of community: I believe that many good ideas come from an informal environment instead of a formal framework. It d really make a difference if one could share a kitchen and be in the kitchen together and speak with one another at one s own pace in your own fashion when you feel like it, adding: I also think that the sharing of resources.when you re a gastronomic start-up, we need help from one another because we face the same challenges, from all the practical to business elements like the administrative side of things. It d make sense if some systems were put in place for collaboration, so one wouldn t have to do everything alone all the time. That s a lot of hours for a lot of work. It d be fantastic to find a way to centralise this task by keeping focus on the small company as well as helping one another interchangeably. For others, collaboration is not necessarily seen as highly advantageous to the improvement of their business or product: I am less interested in having a collaborative brainstorm with other kitcheneurs about what new products or services we could invent. We are pretty clear on our strategy and we re constantly developing our business and we see that the only valuable input about business development that we get is actually from our customers or others who have been in business for a long, long time. Another kitcheneur commented similarly: We re another kind of category than the other kitcheneurs. We haven t used them as much as they seem to have used us in relation to product development. We d like to help people. But I don t see it as a major advantage to network with the others. There have been cool events arranged by KC, and I d like to take part in them, but it hasn t really helped our business as such. Potential collaboration between kitcheneurs and IFS: workshops As KC is an embedded company situated at Aalborg University Copenhagen (AAU Cph), it has been useful and worthwhile for both parties to collaborate with one another in various ways over the past year. Integrated Food Studies (IFS) students have used kitcheneurs as cases for modules focusing on strategic communication during the past year, which has been beneficial. One of the interviewed street food kitcheneurs expressed positivity towards the collaboration: I was interviewed by IFS students at AAU about my social media and communication. They used me as a case. They helped me a lot with a lot of advice. I have what they said in consideration and a lot of the things I have tried to implement. This can be a really good way of helping, for the exchange, you know. They get a case and see it from that theoretical angle, because they see all the things like how to communicate and how to spread it. I didn t even know some of those things existed! Due to the funding provided by Young Enterprise Danmark, IFS and KC have the possibility of collaborating once again and the aim is to carry out workshops revolving around food 12

13 governance and sustainability, strategic communication as well as food design. The 7 kitcheneurs interviewed were asked about their thoughts on collaborating with IFS students through these potential workshops. Overall there was a positive response, including: I d definitely get something out of a workshop format where others can identify my issues and help me sort them out. Collaborating and getting others perspectives is always important, as well as: I would definitely be up for being challenged on my company s approach to sustainability - I can just say no if I don t agree to suggestions and comments. But it can never hurt my company if someone provides me with suggestions. Another company interviewed felt open to suggestions towards their business strategies: Comments and criticism we receive from the outside, they are more than welcome. We are open for all types of discussion, which provides a platform for potential collaboration with IFS students through workshops. However, another company made up of three individuals, felt that workshops with IFS students would not be an option of interest due to issues of control: We don t necessarily have a need for collaborating with others as we all enjoy being in control. Having said that, it doesn t mean that a workshop is not good for idea generation but we have enough challenges already agreeing on new initiatives between the three of us. 13

14 Lessons learned Key findings WORKSHOPS Workshops hosted by Integrated Food Studies and Kitchen Collective would be of interest to the majority of the kitcheneurs interviewed for this report. Kitcheneurs are less interested in specific product development workshops than those revolving around sustainability. Many of the interviewed kitcheneurs consider sustainability as an important part of their business and are willing to learn more. Many kitcheneurs would like to focus on environmental sustainability in regard to integrating local produce and minimising waste into their business strategies. KITCHENEURS AND KITCHEN COLLECTIVE 80 % of kitcheneurs have experienced that the kitchen is booked when they need it. There is a need for more kitchen facilities if KC wants to cater to the needs of all the kitcheneurs. In a few cases kitcheneurs have had to say no to clients due to a lack of kitchen facilities. 50 % say that KC is the only available option for them to have a kitchen % of kitcheneurs say that their turnover is remarkably higher since joining KC. The KC networking aspect is of importance to the kitcheneurs, and something they want to focus on when their business allows for that. 51 individual culinary entrepreneurs (kitcheneur business owners) have actively used KC in the first year. 73 individual culinary entrepreneurs (kitcheneur business owners) have been members of KC in the first year. Of the members of KC in 2015, 14 have been street food vendors, 14 are product 14

15 developers and 19 are alternative caterers. 65% of kitcheneurs see their potential for market expansion as national or international Average bookings per kitcheneur is 9.63 times in 2015 Average total number of hours in the kitchen in 2015 is hours per kitcheneur Average time per booking is 4.13 hours KEY QUOTES I d like to stay at KC as long as I possibly can in relation to my production. I think KC saved street food because if not it wouldn t be possible for many, many, many [people, ed.] We also got some contacts through KC: people who look into the users of KC and find us as an interesting catering partner. One of our major clients, for instance, came through KC and they are a very valuable customer for us now. I believe that many good ideas come from an informal environment instead of a formal framework. It d really make a difference if one could share a kitchen and be in the kitchen together and speak with one another at one s own pace. I would definitely be up for being challenged on my company s approach to sustainability - I can just say no if I don t agree to suggestions and comments. But it can never hurt my company if someone provides me with suggestions. Many members of KC means that it has been very hard to book it when I needed it and therefore I am considering ending my membership. Essentially I prefer being part of a shared kitchen - at the moment KC fulfills that function for me. Not least because of the network aspect. I hope to develop the community and collaborate even more, but it is hard to combine. Making things together should be the future. 15

16 The data collected for this report indicates that Kitchen Collective has been received with high interest and demand from a range of culinary entrepreneurs over the past year. With a large variety of newly started companies in need of certified kitchen facilities, Kitchen Collective has provided a useful and affordable option for many. As kitcheneurs are steadily increasing in size and acquiring new customers, the demand for Kitchen Collective s facilities is growing. The data has shown that during high season, such as the summer months, the demand for the shared kitchen is at its highest. With this in mind, many of the kitcheneurs interviewed showed an interest in an expansion of Kitchen Collective, either by relocating to a larger kitchen, or by expanding and having more than one kitchen available. For some kitcheneurs, a larger kitchen could provide a communal space to share tasks with others while simultaneously providing an opportunity to network. This may aid collaboration between kitcheneurs in the long run. For the majority of interviewed kitcheneurs, the aspect of collaboration with others is an option that could be of interest, particularly regarding communication strategies and sustainability issues. The prospect of workshops held in affiliation with Integrated Food Studies at Aalborg University is one that some of the kitcheneurs would be interested in joining. Workshops regarding strategic communication and sustainability strategies could potentially inspire kitcheneurs as well as provide Integrated Food Studies students the chance to work with real-life cases. This opportunity could benefit both kitcheneurs and students in the long run. 16

17 Appendices Questionnaires Semi-structured interview guide Workshop plan: change management and sustainability Workshop plan: strategic communication OR social entrepreneurship OR evaluation method 17

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41 Semi-structured interview guide Brief introduction of Kitcheneur. Do you come from a culinary, business or entrepreneurial background? If none of the aforementioned, what is your background? Har du en fødevaremæssig, forretningsmæssig eller iværksætterbaggrund? Hvis ingen af disse, hvad er din baggrund for at have en fødevarevirksomhed? What inspired you to start your own business? Hvad inspirerede dig til at starte din egen virksomhed? What inspired you to start your own gastronomic company? Why? (fulfilling a dream, a way to make money etc) Hvad inspirerede dig til at starte din egen fødevarevirksomhed? Hvorfor? (forfølge en drøm, bare en måde at tjene penge, etc.) How did you choose your pricing, products, target segments etc.? What thoughts went into that? (How did you design your business plan? Did you get help from a professional with the business plan and strategy i.e. a consultant?) Hvordan har du valgt din prissættelse, dine produkter, din målgruppe og så videre? Hvilke tanker ligger der bag dine valg? (Hvordan har du designet din forretningsplan? Har du fået professionel hjælp til at udvikle din forretningsplan og strategi evt med en konsulent?) Was it a smooth process implementing your business plan? From theory to practice? Var det en nem proces at implementere din forretningsplan? Fra teori til praksis? Challenges What has been the most challenging for your business in the past year? Could you provide a concrete example? (Financial, time management, product development, customers) Hvad har været den største udfordring for din virksomhed i det seneste år? Kan du komme med et konkret eksempel? (økonomien, tidsforvaltning, produktudvikling, forbrugere) Future plans How do you see your business evolving in the next year? Hvordan ser du din forretnings udvikling i det næste års tid? 41

42 Do you envision yourself to remain a part of Kitchen Collective? Why / why not? Forestiller du dig at forblive en del af Kitchen Collective? Hvorfor/hvorfor ikke? What does your business need in order to evolve? Hvad har din forretning brug for for at kunne udvikle sig? Workshops Would it make sense for you to collaborate with others, e.g. in a workshop format, to develop your company? And if so, how could you see that collaboration taking place? With who? Ville det give mening for dig at samarbejde med andre, f.eks. i et workshop-format, om at udvikle din forretning? Og hvis det er tilfældet, hvordan ser du at det samarbejde kunne forløbe - og med hvem? Do you see any potential for collaborating more with the university? (V-lab, workshops w IFS) Do you think it d be interesting to have students on board with you to create new products or ideas (i.e. crockery, cutlery, furniture for serving)? Ser du et potentiale for at samarbejde mere med universitetet? (V-lab, IFS workshops) Tror du at det kunne være interessant at have studerende inde over din virksomhed til at hjælpe med at skabe nye produkter eller idéer (alternativ service, bestik, møbler, udsmykning)? Do you even have a business plan or would you see that as an area where you could get help/inspiration from students? Har du overhovedet en forretningsplan, eller ville du se det som et område hvor du kunne få hjælp og inspiration fra studerende? Sustainability What is your approach to sustainability? How do you perceive sustainability and how do you incorporate it in your food business? Hvad er din tilgang til bæredygtighed? Hvordan opfatter du bæredygtighed og hvordan inkorporerer du bæredygtighed i din fødevarevirksomhed? How would you let others work with you and challenge you on sustainability and your business? Hvordan ville du lade andre arbejde med dig og bæredygtighed og udfordre dig på din tilgang til bæredygtighed i forhold til din virksomhed? 42

43 Suggestion for Change Management workshop: overview of participating kitcheneurs Kitcheneur Bulko JIPI Aomam Product Korean street food Argentinian street food: empanadas Juice shots Description Street food vendor based at Papirøen serving traditional Korean dishes. Run by a single individual, Oliver Ko, Bulko has been part of Kitchen Collective since May Street food vendor who prepares and sells empanadas at food and music festivals, food markets and private events from his solar-powered food bike. Run by the chef and entrepreneur German Baldi. German produces the products singularly but has a CEO who works with JIPI s administration. Sustainability plays an important role in German s business- he designed and built the food bike himself and has prioritised clean, sustainable energy for cooking his empanadas. German is open to new ideas on how to further his sustainability strategies. Beverage company producing fresh juice shots sold at supermarkets, shops, webshop and private events. Aomam is run by Isabella Amorøe and Anders Kjeldsen who both develop recipes, produce the juices and market their products together as a team. Aomam is a certified organic company. Sustainability has been a major part of the company s vision since the get go, with glass bottles and organic ingredients being a priority despite higher costs. Challenge Converting from conventional to organic produce without compromising on the flavor and authenticity of the dishes A solution to minimise waste: fruit and vegetable pulp from juicing Triple Bottom Line: sustainability suggestions Predominantly meatbased dishesperhaps conversion to local meat or more plant-based options in menu Disposable cutlery and crockery used at Papirøen- a refund system of sorts could be put in place Local food networks: creating a co-op with fellow vendors at Papirøen to procure quality ingredients without the middle man. Alternative forms of energy: furthering the concept of selfsufficiency as a food vendor. Getting sponsorship from Vestas or a biofuel company perhaps? Getting better direct access to organic produce: Bondens marked, Birkemosegåd, Svanholm, Københavns Fødevarefælleskab Figuring out a refund system for glass bottles: a drop-off and pick-up point in exchange for a reward system of sorts Creating recipes and food events based on pulp: making it the star of the show! Alternatively finding places to donate the pulp to: farms that could do with extra compost, animals at the zoo that could be fed with pulp, donating it to biofuel companies or collaborating with other food producers. 43