Shared food workshops allow local producers to have a workshop with professional machinery without the need to incur in an initial investment, accompanied with professional advice and the possibility of being able to pilot the viability of their project before starting their own business.
Shared food workshops are currently an upward trend in rural areas, both in the public and private spheres. This is an initiative that, in addition to providing a boost for new projects related to the agri-food sector, allows small artisan producers to save the cost of building the initial infrastructure, where they can put their knowledge into practice, gain experience and check the viability of their potential business. It also entails the revitalization of the local economy and rural commerce.
For these reasons, more and more city councils, institutions, cooperatives and associations are betting on this type of initiatives, understanding it as a business incubator where entrepreneurs can coexist with other local producers, thus promoting local business.
In addition, registering and signing up with a local shared food workshop allows you to have the necessary support to comply with all the relevant health regulations and permits involved in the launch of an agri-food product on the market. Likewise, it means having all the documentation in order to start an agri-food processing activity, receive training and assistance to evaluate its manufacturing process, formulations, ingredients, labeling and also develop feasibility studies for new products.
Producers can enjoy the collective workshop normally for a maximum of 4 years, extendable to two, in the case of public spaces. The success of these shared food workshops, in most cases, results in the creation of their own workshop in which to continue developing their activity.
The collective workshops have the necessary equipment for the production and conservation of food products: refrigerators, ovens, preserved food autoclaves that sterilize and pasteurize, pasteurizers for glass-ceramic countertops and vacuum packaging machines. The partners, in exchange of an affordable monthly rent, have a shared agenda in which they can reserve the space when they need it, as long as it is free.
The workshop of the Tagamanent City Council
VEAMAT , the Municipal Food Companies Incubator of the Tagamanent City Council, is a clear example of a local collective workshop developed by a City Council and that is allowing it to expand and add greater value to the local agri-food economy. Created in 2017, its purpose is to boost the region’s agri-food production fabric, offering entrepreneurs and micro-businesses in the sector, a space and common facilities where they can experiment and test the viability of their project.
To learn more about a community workshop, we recommend reading this downloadable that we have developed for VEAMAT or also reading their experience in our success stories, where you can learn about this initiative and all the advantages that your collective workshop can offer a local producer.
Technical and food advice with TERRA Food-Tech® autoclaves
TERRA Food-Tech® is a company that is present in many of the shared workshops that are recently being created. The company offers technical and food advice to small producers of prepared dishes and preserves that work with autoclaves. They provide training, technical preparation and personal support in the start-up and development of their products. They help to evaluate your production process, formulations, ingredients and also offer technical support on health legislation and labeling. For the purchase of any of their autoclave equipment, customers have a free first consulting service during the first 3 months , which can be extended for a longer time according to the needs of each customer.
TERRA Food-Tech® autoclaves are designed for cooking, pasteurization and sterilization of all types of packaged foods: fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, soups, creams, purees, juices, jams, sauces, stir-fries, patés, ready meals … They are cost effective and meet all the relevant food safety standards.
Evaluate the feasibility and profitability of your project
In addition, to facilitate the estimation of the viability and performance of your project, TERRA Food-Tech® has a free online calculator to calculate the productive capacity per cycle, that is, the number of containers that can be sterilized depending on the type container and autoclave model.
TERRA Food-Tech®: a great partner for effective, fast and efficient production
If you want to enter the agri-food processing sector, both in a collective workshop or on your own, or to find out more details and find out which autoclave best suits your needs, you can contact the Commercial department of TERRA Food-Tech®.