50 and Counting: Your Voices Made This Milestone Possible
The CSQ Collective Newsletter, Edition #2, June 2025
50 and Counting: Your Voices Made This Milestone Possible
We're thrilled to announce that our market demand study has reached an incredible milestone— in just 7 short weeks, 50 food operators across Anne Arundel County have participated in our survey, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive! The enthusiasm and interest shown for bringing a shared commercial kitchen to our community have exceeded our expectations and demonstrate the real need for this vital food infrastructure.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to every operator who took the time to share their insights and experiences with us.
Your voices are shaping the future of food entrepreneurship in Anne Arundel County. As promised, we'll be sending the complete summary report to all survey participants in early July, so stay tuned for those detailed findings that will guide our next steps forward.
Listening to Our Community: The Numbers Tell a Powerful Story
Every response in our survey represents a real food entrepreneur with genuine needs and aspirations, and we're deeply honored by the trust our community has placed in us by sharing their stories.
The numbers emerging from these conversations are both illuminating and inspiring:
Collectively, our 50 respondents represent an impressive $2 million in annual gross sales, demonstrating the significant economic impact of the emerging food business community in our county.
We've also discovered that 33% of operators are offering gluten-free options, reflecting the growing demand for specialized dietary accommodations that a shared kitchen could better support.
Perhaps most telling is that 17 operators have specifically requested access to blast chilling capabilities—a specialized need that individual businesses often can't afford but that we as a shared facility will prioritize.
These aren't just statistics; they're insights into the real challenges and opportunities facing our local food community, and it is guiding every decision we make as we move forward.
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Our Local Kitchen Heroes
Our vision for a shared kitchen in Anne Arundel County didn't emerge in a vacuum—we've been inspired and guided by incredible community kitchens already thriving in our region.
Our Time Kitchen in Baltimore has shown us how a shared kitchen can become a true community hub for food entrepreneurs, while BMore Kitchen in Baltimore demonstrates the power of kitchen sharing at scale in their 10,000 sq ft facility. The Mess Hall in Washington, D.C. has pioneered innovative approaches to making commercial kitchen space accessible and amplifying its operators through interesting and fun-filled events. These trailblazing facilities have proven that shared kitchens aren't just about equipment—they're about building ecosystems where food entrepreneurs can flourish together.
While we're working hard to bring our own shared kitchen to Anne Arundel County, we encourage you to explore these amazing resources. Visit The Mess Hall, BMore Kitchen, and Our Time Kitchen to see the incredible work they're doing and get a taste of what's possible when we invest in our local food community.
