Edible Enterprises gets $50k grant

Edible Enterprises, a food business incubator run by Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Louisiana Inc., recently received a $50,000 grant from The Louisiana Business Incubation Association and the Louisiana Economic Development Department for food processing equipment and building upgrades.

This capital assets award will increase production capabilities of the 24 small food companies that are tenants of Edible Enterprises, the only Food Incubator in Louisiana.

Last year, Edible Enterprises received the same LED/LBIA grant and was able to purchase an automatic labeling machine, freezers and other equipment that saves the small food companies money and time in producing their products.

Edible Enterprises is a 12,000-square-foot fully equipped facility featuring two state-of-the-art, commercial kitchens. Food entrepreneurs share work space and equipment which are generally too expensive for most start-up companies.

The 24 food companies enrolled in Edible Enterprises produce food products such as BBQ sauces, remoulade sauces, pasta sauces, cheese balls, teas, cupcakes, banana bread, rum cakes, dipping sauces and bloody mary mix and are in a total of 350 stores, including, but not limited to, Calvin’s Bocage, Calandro’s, Rouse’s, Whole Foods in Baton Rouge, Doriqnac’s, Lengenstines, Breaux Mart and many more. The center is composed of businesses from parishes in the state of Louisiana.

Tenant benefits include business, marketing and packaging support as well as recipe scaling, ingredient modification, test batching and production. Kitchen fees average $20 per hour plus the cost of storage. All tenants are required to have occupational licenses and insurance before utilizing the facility.

Edible Enterprises is a collaborative effort of various groups, including St. Charles Parish government, the Louisiana Business and Technology Center, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture, St. Charles Parish Schools, Greater New Orleans Inc, Shell Motiva and Goodwill Industries.