From Resolution to Reality
 

Food brands that make it tend to share two qualities, according to Hudson Kitchen’s Djenaba Johnson-Jones: a great product and the roll-up-your-sleeves tenacity to stick with it, no matter what.

Beginning January 24, would-be entrepreneurs can take their New Year’s resolutions to the next level during Hudson Kitchen’s new series, Food Business Bootcamp: From Concept to Farmers’ Market in Four Months. Taking a nuts-and-bolts approach to business planning, seven sessions cover everything from marketing to food law.

The sequence is rooted in Johnson-Jones’s own entrepreneurial experience. Following a successful career in business development for publications including Essence and W, Johnson- Jones planned to launch a concierge service that would pair fitness support (she’s a certified personal trainer) with healthy meal delivery. Then she hit a roadblock: a lack of commercial kitchen space. Undeterred, she shifted focus and decided to fill that void.

Ultimately, her vision expanded to include education. “I thought: What do people need to succeed? What are the first steps?” Johnson- Jones says. “From developing a business plan to dealing with the health department, there are big issues people need to understand when starting a business.”

Beyond helping start-ups navigate, Johnson- Jones aims to cultivate community, a make-or-break factor in today’s marketplace. “My goal is to walk people through the process—to get to know them and then form a community around them,” Johnson-Jones says. When Hudson Kitchen’s brick-and-mortar location (TBD) opens in 2017, clients will have ready access to a fully equipped 24/7 rental kitchen and a communal environment focused on collaboration.

Bootcamp classes are available one at a time or as a series, and a food-blogger brunch is planned for March 4. Visit the website for details.

Hudson Kitchen
646.319.5137
thehudsonkitchen.com