Many food entrepreneurs are ready to grow, but can’t find licensed kitchens to rent. Food Web connects them with underused kitchens, unlocking new opportunities in the local food economy.
Written by
Justin Andrews
Justin Andrews is a chef-turned-founder who has spent the last decade working across farms, markets, restaurants, nonprofits, and academic research. He’s now the CEO of Food Web, a platform built to unlock underused commercial kitchens and strengthen local food systems. Justin writes about food, entrepreneurship, and the work of building resilient local economies.
Where meals are made.
Everyone wants to see a stronger local food economy. One where our grocery store shelves are lined with locally made products instead of imports from thousands of kilometres away. But to get there, we have to start at the beginning.
Those local products; the sauces, soups, baked goods, and ready-to-eat meals we love, all start somewhere. For many small food businesses, that journey begins at a farmers’ market, then expands into small retail, and eventually into grocery distribution. But there’s a missing piece of infrastructure that makes that growth harder than it needs to be: access to licensed kitchens.
Across Atlantic Canada, there’s no shortage of talent or ambition. Just a shortage of accessible, compliant kitchen space.
If you want to make and sell food, you need to produce it in a licensed commercial kitchen. That’s non-negotiable. But finding one? That’s where most entrepreneurs hit a wall.
Over the past few years at Food Web, we’ve spoken to dozens of food producers, caterers, and market vendors who’ve spent weeks making cold calls just to find a place to cook. Some eventually get lucky, finding a church or café willing to rent their kitchen during off-hours, but only after a long and frustrating search. Others simply give up because they can’t find a kitchen space at all.
And even when kitchens do exist, there are still major challenges that get in the way of connecting people to them:
Across Atlantic Canada, there are thousands of commercial kitchens sitting idle. Cafés that close mid-afternoon, community centres that host just a few events a week, churches, legions, and fire halls with fully equipped kitchens used only occasionally. These are licensed, and often taxpayer-funded spaces that could be powering our local food movement, helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into income and products into thriving small businesses.
Yet these kitchens remain out of reach for most food producers, not because they lack potential, but because there’s no simple way to find, book, or manage them. The infrastructure exists, it’s just invisible.
So while Atlantic Canada has the creativity and drive to grow its local food economy, the very systems that could support it remain tangled in logistics and uncertainty. That’s exactly what Food Web is here to untangle.
That’s where Food Web comes in. Born from lived experience and years of conversations with food entrepreneurs, we’re building a simple way to connect people who have kitchen space with those who need it.
Through foodweb.network, kitchen owners can list their spaces, share availability, and manage bookings - while food entrepreneurs can search, verify, and rent kitchens that fit their needs.
The idea started when our founder, Justin Andrews, couldn’t find a kitchen for his own business. A challenge shared by countless others. (Read about Justin’s journey to see how that experience inspired Food Web.)
By unlocking underused kitchens and simplifying access, Food Web is building a bridge between potential and opportunity, turning empty kitchens into engines for local food growth.
Every bottle of hot sauce, every loaf of bread, every locally made product begins with a kitchen. When we make it easier for small businesses to find the space they need, we make it easier for our communities to eat locally, spend locally, and build economic resilience. Across Atlantic Canada, the kitchens, the talent, and the drive already exist. What’s been missing is the connection between them. When we make it easier for kitchen owners to share their space, we’re building the foundation for a stronger, more resilient local food economy!
If you manage a licensed kitchen, you can help turn unused space into a new opportunity.
If you’re a food entrepreneur ready to grow, this platform was built for you.
