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marietta kitchen creations

Marietta Kitchen Creations grew out of the shared desire of members of the River City Farmers Market to process food items for retail sale. Federal and state laws require that fruits and vegetables processed in any way beyond rinsing and trimming be prepared in an approved facility. The solution was a state licensed shared-use kitchen on the grounds of Washington County Fairgrounds, which became operational in September 2001. Marietta Kitchen Creations is a shared use kitchen facility cooperative.

Designed to operate as a membership organization, Marietta Kitchen Creations is focused on creating and nurturing opportunities to help sustain local agricultural production. Marketing value-added farm products allows small rural farmers to supplement their income, while offering locally produced products to the community. Marietta Kitchen Creations (MKC) offers a licensed facility for production of high acid canned products (pH <4.6), bakery and frozen foods. Product liability insurance is available to members of Marietta Kitchen Creations. The group of producers shares their knowledge and experience regarding processing, regulatory compliance, bulk purchasing of supplies, and product labeling. Participants actively seek opportunities for shared marketing and collaboration as individuals and as a group.

Marietta Kitchen Creations is open to anyone in the mid-Ohio valley who wishes assistance in creating value-added food products. The group primarily consists of members affiliated with the River City Farmers Market (Marietta), but also includes members from adjoining Noble County. Individuals from Wood County, WV have also participated.
Marietta Kitchen has five to six active users of the kitchen, plus another five to six interested individuals, not yet users. Current users of the MKC facility are predominantly small farmers or individual food producers who are looking to supplement their income. A nationwide shift towards increased consumption of naturally produced or processed food products has been documented. Knowing who produces their food and where it comes from has become increasingly important to many consumers and they are willing to pay more. Consumers worried about pesticide residues or other additives/preservatives like to be able to talk to the farmer or producer directly. Small local farmers in the surrounding area can take advantage of this trend by finding ways to add value to their products and also sell more directly to their customers. Bypassing the middleman then increases their net profit. The River City Farmers Market has had success at maintaining a year-round market presence for the past 3 years. Several of the Marietta Kitchen Creations producers participate in the River City Farmers Market, selling their locally produced products. Marietta Kitchen Creation is starting to set up local retail outlets for our products. All people currently working at Marietta Kitchen are volunteers.

The Mid-Ohio Valley boasts a long history of collaboration and cooperation among agricultural producers, large and small in this region. The "Marietta Truck Growers", started in 1909, was the oldest agriculture marketing cooperative in the United States. Marietta Truck Growers involved many vegetable growers in the area marketing “Marietta Sweet Corn” and “Marietta Tomatoes” as far away as Pittsburgh and Cleveland. MKC proposes to resurrect and build upon that long and strong history to develop a collective, comprehensive marketing program involving MKC users, River City Farmers Market vendors, local retailers and any other regionally interested parties. Developing a marketing program with an identifiable logo for foods produced and processed in Mid-Ohio Valley is a primary objective of the group. Creating consumer demand for locally produced products is equally as important. Development of an identifiable “brand” for locally grown and produced food products is central to the success of this project, both for MKC and individual participants.

Company Information:
Name: Marietta Kitchen Creations
Address: PO Box 526
Marietta, OH 45750
Telephone: 740-568-0140 (kitchen)
Telephone 2: 740-374-0462
Fax: 740-568-0313
Contact: Sue Berzinis
Email: teamberzinis@1st.net