A chef’s success used to be defined by their ability to fill a brick and mortar location. Now, chefs are finding a more affordable way to garner the same success—without the hefty real estate bill. Shared kitchens, a preparation facility where multiple food concepts share the same space, are a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs. These concepts are mostly delivery-only and have no physical dining rooms for customers to visit.

“Leaven Kitchen is a shared space for small food entrepreneurs to be able to have all the legal elements and phenomenal, top of the line equipment to be able to produce their [items] and bring them to the community,” said Lauren Carey, consultant and CEO of Sorghum and Rye Operations. 

Per Georgia law, members must leave everything they use for their business at Leaven Kitchen. When Carey began consulting on Leaven Kitchen in Decatur, Ga., she immediately knew they were going to need shelving with locking cages to keep members’ belongings secure.

She connected with her local Cambro rep and was told about Camshelving and Cambro’s Security Cages. What really sold it for her, was the antimicrobial properties of Camshelving shelf plates and its lifetime warranty against rust and corrosion. Cambro’s Security Cages, made of rust resistant 300-series stainless steel, further supported Carey’s rust-free goals.

“A plastic-coated wire, over time…the plastic breaks down, the metal underneath starts to rust, the shelves and the doors don’t quite close the same way and the screws that go in get rusty,” said Carey.

Another big difference from epoxy-coated shelving—Camshelving is easy to clean.

“A simple spill, I can take [the shelf plate] out and quickly clean it, wipe it and sanitize it,” said Carey. “The fact that all the different shelf pieces can be solid or ventilated and come out and go through the dishwasher is phenomenal.”

Carey and her team thought Camshelving was so simple to put together, they turned it into a competition.

“[Camshelving is] incredibly easy to put together. We actually made a game of it and the winning time was 11 minutes. To be able to assemble these in 11 minutes…and to able to take them apart if you needed to in a similar amount of time is a complete game changer,” said Carey.

Leaven Kitchen members are able to use Camshelving in dry storage, walk-in freezers and walk-in coolers. It was especially important for the Camshelving in the dry storage area to be mobile so that members could easily move them back and forth from their stations. Not all shared kitchens have top of the line equipment, a fact that has not been lost on Leaven Kitchen’s members.

“They understand the value, especially if they’ve been using some of the lower tier versions. It allows us to also make our money back on them. They are certainly an investment, but they are a good investment,” said Carey.

Next on Carey’s plate is a 30,000 sq. ft. shared kitchen project where she plans to purchase more than 100 Camshelving units and security cages. She presented her plans to the Department of Health, showing how their members would have safe, sanitary storage options.

“They were in love with them,” said Carey.

When you need a sanitary shelving solution that will last through the rigors of daily kitchen life, there is no match for Camshelving. Whether you’re keeping valuables in a shared environment or in the back of a single-concept kitchen, Cambro’s Security Cages give you a peace of mind. For more information, contact your Cambro rep.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ADRIANA DESIDERIO IS THE DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER AT CAMBRO.