Frequently Asked Questions

We work with packaged food (CPG), meal prep, and food service businesses.

• Launching a packaged food brand? Pre-launch and early-stage founders start with our Food Business Bootcamp® Startup Accelerator — it's the pathway into membership.

• Already up and running? Established packaged food (CPG), meal prep, and food service businesses can apply directly for membership.

• At this time, we are not accepting pre-launch meal prep or food service businesses.

It depends on where your business is:

• Pre-launch and early-stage packaged food founders must apply through the Food Business Bootcamp® Startup Accelerator. The Bootcamp isn't just a prerequisite — it's how we set you up to succeed. Over eight weeks, you'll develop your brand strategy and marketing foundation, refine and scale your recipe, build your operations and SOPs, work through pricing strategy and financial modeling, and learn to produce safely and efficiently in a shared commercial kitchen. By the time you're a member, you're ready.

• Established packaged food, meal prep, and food service businesses can apply directly for membership by submitting a 12-month P&L and balance sheet with their application.

• At this time, we are not accepting pre-launch meal prep or food service businesses.

We’re not. Our facility isn’t restricted for any allergen or dietary needs like nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, Kosher, Halal, vegan, or otherwise.

Established businesses can apply directly using the steps below. If you're launching a packaged food brand, your path to membership starts with the Food Business Bootcamp®.

Here’s how to apply:

1. First, check out our membership page which details everything that we are looking for in a member and what to expect during the application process.

2. Schedule a Discovery Call. We’ll use the time to assess if there could be a mutual fit. If there’s not a fit, we may be able to point you towards some alternatives. Book your Discovery Call here.

3. If our facility is right for your business, we’ll schedule a time for you to take a tour to see our kitchen in action. After your tour, we’ll send you our membership packet that includes instructions on how to apply and details about the required documents and fees.

4. Fill out our Application Form, upload your P&L and balance sheet (previous 12 months), and pay the $500 Application fee (applied toward your first month's membership fee if a Facilities Use Agreement is signed within 10 days of form submission).

5. We’ll review your information and let you know if you qualify for membership.

6. If you qualify, you’ll have an interview with a Hudson Kitchen staff member and current member.

7. If your business is invited to join the kitchen, you’ll submit the required documents and fees.

8. Attend an orientation session

The tour gives you the lay of the land at Hudson Kitchen, and helps make sure you’re ready for membership. Our founder, Djenaba, will personally walk you through our campus to learn about our facilities, check out the equipment, and determine if they meet your current needs. We’ll learn more about you, your goals, and how you want to grow your business. As a community of supportive, focused founders, we want to make sure we’re the best place for you.

Here’s what we need from every new member:

• Application with $500 application fee (refundable if your Facilities Use Agreement is signed within 10 days of submission)

• Signed Facilities Use Agreement

• Security deposit equal to two month’s membership fee (inclusive of additional storage) plus the first month’s membership fee

• Business Registration Certificate

• Certificate of Formation

• Employer Identification Number (EIN)

• Food Protection Manager Certification and Food Protection Handler Certification (all employees involved in production)

• Detailed Food Safety Business Plan with SOPs or HACCP Plan (if applicable)

• General and Product Liability insurance with Waiver of Subrogation

  • Each Occurrence Minimum: 1,000,000 per incident

  • Damage to Rented Premises (Each Occurrence): $300,000

  • Medical Expenses (Any One Person): $5,000

  • Personal & Advertising Injury: $1,000,000

  • General Aggregate: $2,000,000

  • Products-Completed/Operations Aggregate: $2,000,000

• Excess General Liability insurance

  • Minimum $2,000,000 (Each Occurrence)

    Minimum $2,000,000 (Aggregate)

• NJ Workers Compensation insurance for all employees and contractors, and a signed waiver for any business owner not covered under the policy

  • E.L. Each Accident: $1,000,000

  • E.L. Disease - Each Employee: $1,000,000

  • E.L. Disease - Policy Limit: $1,000,000

• (If applicable) Commercial Automobile insurance

  • Combined Single Limit (Each Occurrence): $1,000,000

• Applicable food license applications

  • Kearny Retail Food License

  • New Jersey

    • F-29 Wholesale Food License

    • F-9 Non-Alcoholic Beverage

    • M-5 Frozen Desserts

You bet. We get it – businesses take time to evolve. We’d love to work with you to figure out the best time for you to become a member. We want everyone in our community to be successful – so if you’re not ready yet, no pressure.

Yes! As a member of our compliant facility, you can pursue FDA, USDA, and Organic certification, and wholesale and retail licensing. We even submit your retail license materials to the health department and schedule inspections on your behalf.

Oh yeah! Hudson Kitchen is more than just a commercial kitchen—we’re a food business incubator. We help you figure out your next steps to expand your business. Our experts provide workshops, in-depth training sessions, 1-on-1 consulting sessions, and mentorship based on the needs you and your business have.

We embrace it! Hudson Kitchen is a collaborative space. We promote creativity, community, and cooperation. There’s room for everybody, and we’re here to help all CPG businesses thrive. If you need help figuring out your differentiators in the marketplace, we can help!

We can help. If you’re just getting started, we’ll train you how to use the commercial equipment, and how to work in the shared kitchen. That way you can produce more, better, faster, and with less waste. (And you won’t break anything!)

We allow 3 people in the kitchen plus 1 dishwasher or administrative staff per membership. As your business grows, you can add another membership. We allow up to 3 memberships per company.

We don’t. That’s because we’ve found that a monthly commitment gives our members the best set-up for success. When you’re ready to level up your business, we’ll be here for you!

Yes. Members may bring in approved commercial kitchen equipment such as mixers, food processors, ovens, dehydrators, sheeters, pasta machines, or other production tools. If the equipment requires special utility service (electrical, including 2-phase or 3-phase, plumbing, or otherwise), the member is responsible for the upgrade. A monthly equipment-storage fee also applies. All equipment must meet our safety, sanitation, and compliance requirements.

For prospective members: if you'd like an estimate on utility upgrades and the monthly equipment-storage fee for your equipment before signing up for membership, a Professional Feasibility Assessment fee is required. This covers Hudson Kitchen's coordination time plus any outside contractor time needed to assess whether the facility can support the equipment. The fee varies depending on the type of assessment required.

Please note: this fee is non-refundable and does not guarantee equipment approval, installation approval, membership approval, or space availability.

R&D Sessions are designed for established food businesses, corporate teams, product development teams, and experienced food operators who need access to a commercial kitchen for recipe testing, product development, or small-batch prototyping.

We offer two options: single-day sessions and longer-term project bookings.

Single-day sessions are $800 for up to 8 hours ($150/hour beyond 8 hours), scheduled based on availability, and not guaranteed as a recurring option.

Longer-term project bookings are custom engagements typically ranging from 1–3 months. Pricing is proposal-based. Contact us to discuss your project.

R&D Sessions are not intended for new founders who are learning how to operate in a commercial kitchen for the first time. Hudson Kitchen provides facility orientation, but we do not provide commercial kitchen training as part of an R&D Session.

If you are starting a new food business and need support with product development, compliance, costing, production planning, and kitchen readiness, you may be a better fit for the Food Business Bootcamp® Startup Accelerator.

To book an R&D Session, you must have business registration, required insurance, at least one certified Food Protection Manager onsite, and prior commercial kitchen or food production experience. You must also provide a clear production plan, including the product you are testing, ingredients, equipment needed, process overview, and any special handling, allergen, HACCP, or regulatory considerations.

Required insurance includes general liability, excess liability, and workers’ compensation. All required documentation, including insurance certificates, business registration, food safety certification, and production plan details, must be received, reviewed, and approved by Hudson Kitchen at least 24 hours before the scheduled session. Documentation submitted the day of the session will not be accepted.

Single-day sessions require you to remove all product, ingredients, equipment, and materials at the end of each session. Longer-term project bookings may include storage depending on the approved project scope.

R&D bookings, whether single-day or longer-term projects, are licensed kitchen bookings for product testing and development only. You get access to our communal kitchen, equipment, and smallwares, and dishwashing services.

Single-day sessions include day-of storage only; longer-term project bookings include storage for the duration of the engagement.

Products made during R&D bookings cannot be sold, and ongoing commercial production is not permitted. To produce commercially, you must become a Hudson Kitchen member.

Unfortunately we can’t accommodate businesses that operate as ghost kitchens or produce made-to-order products distributed through on-demand delivery services like DoorDash and UberEats.

Unfortunately, no. We incubate and accelerate businesses that make a 6-month minimum commitment. Our dedicated founders are full-time or aspiring to be full-time in the near term. If you’re not ready for membership, but need some support, we’d love to have you join one of our workshops or classes as you continue to grow your business.

We don’t offer rentals to the public. Our member businesses rely on available space to produce food for their businesses.