Abstract:

Over the past five years a significant number of kitchen incubators have opened, especially in the United States; from virtually no food incubators to probably more than 200. From a low base, food incubators are gaining popularity in Europe. Expanding interest in food incubators is not surprising considering recent trends and the economic potential in the culinary industry. Across all EU nations, speciality and artisan food products are gaining market share and a new generation of savvy food entrepreneurs are emerging. With the booming interest in local and artisan food, the demand for food production space has exploded over the past decade, creating the demand that has bred new food incubators. It is clear that there is much more interest in local food production and culinary entrepreneurship than there was even a decade ago. This new demand is creating the impetus for incubators solutions as economic drivers and employment creators at a regional level.

The paper presents outcomes of the project “FITR – Food Incubators Transforming Regions”, which seeks to forge an effective and replicable model to provide the learning and strategic structure to develop food kitchens and incubators as enterprise, training and support drivers at regional level. The project rationale is clear, while there are many VET responses for food entrepreneurs and SMEs, there is no VET in the theme of training tools for developing regional infrastructure and support structures that will stimulate food economies.

Keywords:

Food incubator, Regional Food Incubator Partnership, curriculum, innovative learning.