Good Morning or Afternoon,

I would like to start my own bakery business but cannot bake from my home nor can I afford a store front. I REALLY want to do this and do it legally. I don't have enough business yet to justify renting a commercial kitchen nor do I even know where to find one in my city. I was thinking of maybe asking a local independent coffee shop if I could bake and sell from their location and pay them rent but not sure how to go about it. Does anyone have advice or experience with this situation?

Thanks

I dont have an answer fo you but I just wanted to let you know that there is a forum specifically for this, they may have some insight for you. Best of Luck!

Kentucky is the same way. Nothing from home. To time from a restaurant here is the same as renting from another place. It's expensive. If you live in a rural area like me, you won't make the income from cakes, cookies, etc., to justify paying all the rent they want. What I did was to check with some local churches who have health department approved facilities and see about renting from them. They're usually all for it as long as it doesn't interfere with their functions. Good luck!

Tennessee certifies domestic kitchens so that you can bake from home. Not exactly a bakery but it will get you through until you have enough business to warrant renting a commercial kitchen or can afford a store front.

Contact the U of T Food Science and Tech. dept.

Food Science and Technology
2605 River Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37996
Phone: (865) 974-7331
Fax: (865) 974-7332
Email: [email protected]

You have to attend a workshop and then go through a series of steps to get your home ready for inspection. Totally doable though.

If you have pets or for some other reason this isn't reasonable, you might consider many churches usually have inspected kitchens.

Check with your local health department and see what they say.

But also note that not all coffee shops have kitchens to do baking. I know of several in my area that aren't. And the ones that do have those kind of kitchen setups....well they bake their own goods, which kind of defeats the purpose of asking them.

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum. I should clarify that I don't necessarilly want to start up with a full service bakery yet, I prefer to stick strictly with cupcakes and maybe cookies that is why I chose the cupcake forum. I will repost in the business forum. Thanks for the info. I do have pets so getting my home kitchen certified is not going to happen.

The idea I have in mind is the coffee shop does serve food but it is mainly breakfast quiches and muffins, etc. and it appears that they don't sell alot of thier food items. I was thinking of approaching them to see if I could co-op with them somehow without buying into the business, I would just pay them a monthly "rent" fee. I could use thier kitchen facilites and somewhat empty refrigerated bakery case to make and display my cupcakes and cookies for sale. There is not really a specialized bakery in the town I live in, everyone goes 1/2 hour into Memphis in order to get thier cupcake fix. I think it would bring thier coffee shop more business as they don't seem to do too much business. I'm just not sure how to approach this, how do you keep equipment and supplies separated, how do you keep separate what I sell vs. what she sells, etc, etc, etc. Just wondering if anyone has had a similar situation and how they handled it.

Hi Monelove! I was thinking about doing the same thing. There's a coffee shop in the small town where I live and I've thought about seeing if they'd be interested in selling my muffins, scones, cupcakes, cookies, etc. and also possibly supplying the 2 restaurants here with desserts. The coffee shop has a small kitchen, but i'm not sure if they make their own baked goods or have them delivered in. I haven't talked with them yet though. Just kind of in the thought process.

Not sure if it would work for you but I have been looking at trailers with kitchens in them. You have a moble kitchen that you can work out of in your drive way or anywhere else your state will aprove you to work. This will give you the chance to work from home kind of if need then take you baking goods to a store to sale or at home for locals to do pick up. That is just an idea I have thought about doing. I know you can get a consesion trailer for a good price if you look around and then set it up the way you want or need.