Editor’s note: This story is part of Biz New Orleans Magazine’s July focus on Jefferson Parish.
METAIRIE, La. – Despite the New Orleans region’s reputation as one of the nation’s food capitals, entrepreneurs hoping to turn recipes into retail products have long lacked a resource common in many peer cities: a food and beverage business incubator.
Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission (JEDCO) officials say that gap has limited opportunities for emerging food businesses and hope the new incubator will keep promising food entrepreneurs from leaving Louisiana in search of commercial kitchen space and business support available elsewhere.
A USDA-funded needs assessment also identified a significant regional shortage of commercial kitchen space and food production infrastructure, reinforcing the need for the project.
JEDCO hopes to change that with the Greater New Orleans Food & Beverage Incubator, an $8.7 million facility designed to help food and beverage entrepreneurs across Southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast move from home kitchens and restaurant jobs into commercial production and eventually onto grocery store shelves. Groundbreaking is expected in late 2026, with the incubator anticipated to open in 2028.
“We’re targeting companies that are trying to get their products on grocery store shelves,” said Jerry Bologna, president and CEO of JEDCO. “They could be operating out of their home kitchens, they could be someone working in the restaurant industry that is developing a product that they want to get into retail stores.”
A Missing Piece in the Food Ecosystem
As JEDCO explored the concept, they found that other peer cities already had food incubators even though few places are as closely identified with food as the New Orleans region.
“As part of our due diligence we talked to other food incubators across the country and other, similarly sized cities have incubators,” said Annalisa Kelly, director of strategic initiatives and policy for JEDCO.
“Through this exercise we learned that Cleveland has three food incubators,” said Bologna. “That left us perplexed. The culture of the New Orleans region and south Louisiana especially revolves around our food. So much of the manufacturing takes place in Jefferson Parish or is headquartered here and then exported literally all over the world. This shows it is a cluster that is of great importance to us and we want to continue to foster that.”
Designed for Growth
For many startups, moving beyond a home kitchen requires licensed production space, commercial equipment and food safety support that can be costly to access independently. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all commercial kitchen, the incubator is being designed to accommodate food and beverage businesses with different production needs and at various stages of growth.
Plans call for a more than 12,000-square-foot facility featuring three commercial production kitchens, a demonstration kitchen, FDA-licensed food production space, refrigerated and freezer storage, dry storage, loading and distribution areas, and an outdoor culinary garden and plaza.
“One of the kitchens will be general production, one will be specifically geared toward baking with things like proofing cabinets, and the other kitchen will be for bottling, including cisterns and bottle labeling,” said Kelly.
The facility also will include specialized equipment tailored to different types of food production, including humidity-controlled ovens, pasta preparation tables, commercial mixing equipment and brewing and fermentation equipment.
JEDCO expects the incubator to serve approximately 25 to 30 businesses with varying production schedules and facility needs.
“Their needs are all going to be different,” said Bologna. “Some may only be in there one or two days per month and batch their products, some may be there much more often depending on where they are in their business life cycle.”
In addition to production space, the incubator will offer business development services designed to help entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of growing a food business, including food safety training, licensing assistance, financing guidance and technical support.
“An entrepreneur may be focused on their product development and not focused on the marketing, accounting or how to scale up their business,” said Bologna. “We hope to be able to provide all of that technical assistance.”
Food & Beverage Incubator Advances Toward Construction
The project is now fully funded following the addition of $3.65 million secured through the federal appropriations process with support from U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, bringing total project funding to $8.7 million. An additional $850,000 was awarded through the Louisiana Office of Community Development and Jefferson Parish Community Development to purchase commercial kitchen equipment, furniture and fixtures.
“We are hoping to secure a construction contractor this year with a groundbreaking in fall or winter,” said Kelly. “The goal is to have it operational in 2028.”
Kelly said interest in the incubator already extends beyond aspiring entrepreneurs, with established food manufacturers stepping forward to help support the next generation of Louisiana food businesses.
“We have major companies that hear about the incubator and want to get involved as mentors, offering programs,” Kelly said. “It has been wonderful to see.”
