Food processing center to open

Soon, there will be a way to see if your grandma’s jam, your dad’s spaghetti, or your friend’s salsa could ever make it big in the market.

By the end of the year, Orange County will be home to the Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center, a 10,400 square foot incubator for new food businesses that will also add value to local farm products.

Participants will be able to experiment at one of the center’s two commercial kitchens that will offer a wide range of food processing equipment. They will also be able to enroll in programs on food safety regulation and business development.

“The idea is that if you have a home-based business that you are struggling to expand on in the commercial market, this is a kitchen available for rent,” said Elizabeth Read, executive director of the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough.

While the venture is being shared by Alamance, Chatham, Durham and Orange counties, Read said Orange County has taken the lead on the project. The processing center will be located at 500 Valley Forge Road in Hillsborough, near Interstate 85 and N.C. 86.

The county’s Economic Development Director, Brad Broadwell, said he thinks the incubator has the potential to boost the local economy.

He said one of program’s goals is to attract food industry hopefuls from across the state to Orange County.

“Participants would come to this area and utilize the programs and activities emanating from this building to develop a market for their products, whether it’s jams, jellies or meats,” he said.

During its first year of operation, the processing center will be financed by $1.3 million of federal and state grants, but it will eventually become a non-profit organization.

The incubator will be similar to Blue Ridge Food Ventures, a venue near Asheville. Executive Director of the food ventures kitchen Mary Lou Surgi said the reactions from the community to the incubator have been encouraging.

“I love seeing people come in here with a dream and an idea, and we can help get them started,” Surgi said.

Food Ventures charges $22 per hour to rent its kitchen — about the same rate the Piedmont facility will charge its users.

“For some folks here this is their full time job,” she said.

“For others, like farmers, caterers or bakers, this is an activity they use to keep themselves going.”

In addition to food processing, the Asheville facility also offers advice on how to efficiently market and label products.

“You don’t have to mortgage your house to see if your award-winning chocolate chip cookies will be a good investment,” Surgi said.

Surgi, who is familiar with the new Piedmont incubation program, said she thinks it will be successful.

“It is a great location,” she said. “There is so much food energy in that area, and I think it will do very well.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.