Ep. 111: Inside Northwest Ohio's Cooperative Kitchen with Rebecca Singer

In this episode of AgCredit Said It, host Libby Wixtead sits down with Rebecca Singer, president and CEO of CIFT, to explore how the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen (The NOCK) is turning recipes and ideas into viable food businesses across Ohio. 

Transcription

Speaker 1 (00:08):Welcome to AgCredit Said It, your go - to podcast for insights on farm finance and maximizing your return on investment. Join us as we talk to industry leaders, financial experts and area farmers, bringing you skillful advice and strategies to grow your farm's financial future. AgCredit Said It, where farm finance goes beyond the balance sheet.

Libby Wixtead (00:39):Welcome back to another episode of AgCredit Said It, where we take you beyond the balance sheet. I'm your host, Libby Wixtead, and with me today I have Rebecca Singer, the president and CEO of CIFT. Welcome, Rebecca.

Rebecca Singer (00:52):Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Libby Wixtead (00:55):Absolutely. Could you briefly explain what the CIFT is?

Rebecca Singer (01:01):Sure. We are a private nonprofit organization that is based in Toledo, but we really service those all across the state of Ohio. And in doing so, we provide a lot of business and technical assistance to food, agricultural, and regional manufacturers. That's sort of what has been the framework for us for the last 30 years. Always looking at new ideas, innovation, how to improve operations, serve as a sounding board, but also a vetting entity for the up and coming technologies and what people might be interested in and how they could be applied. So that's what we've been doing for a number of years and we've been a proud partner with AgCredit in the past. So we've done some things in support of the AgCredit as an organization and as well as many of the people that are familiar with what you guys do. So it's a nice opportunity to share and communicate some of these details and a little bit more formalized today.

Libby Wixtead (02:09):Yeah. What is your background and that led you into your role at CIFT since this seems like such a very interesting organization that you're part of?

Rebecca Singer (02:20):It is. I grew up on a family farm and as anyone, or at least in my case, I shouldn't classify it as anyone, but I went off to college and decided I wanted to do something else off the farm for a bit, figure out my own path, see what I could come up with to do for the future. I attended Ohio State University and got my degree in agribusiness and applied economics, so go bucks. And then I worked for the Ohio Department of Agriculture as a domestic marketing specialist and the Ohio Pride coordinator for a number of years. And ironically, you just never know how opportunities are going to present themselves or where they're going to originate. But one of my professors when I was in college, I had stayed somewhat in touch with post-graduation and he recommended that I take a look at Sift and see what it was all about and what it had to offer.

(03:20):I did so, and that was 24 and a half years ago when I was hired on just to manage a grant that they had. And it was for functional foods, which is also very interesting because I thought all food was functional. I had no idea what they were talking about. They were nutraceuticals, it was all these healthy foods. I don't know if I'm your person. I don't really have the food science side. I have more of the ag side. And they're like, "No, we think you could do a good job with this particular program." And talk about full circle because now so much of what we are experiencing and communicating is about some of those healthier atributes, but it really gave me the opportunity to dive in and I just embraced the fact that no two days were alike and it was constantly stimulating and creative and inspiring to see what was going on in the food and agricultural sectors and how we might be able to play a small role.

(04:22):So I was fortunate to have the opportunity and continued to embrace that all these years later.

Libby Wixtead (04:29):Yeah, you have a very interesting look at what agriculture looks like from a lot of people that come maybe from like me. I come from a background with grain and hogs and then seeing it on the other side of what the product is and just all the in between. I mean, that's very neat to have that background in what you're doing and very full circle, like you said. Today you're wanting to talk about the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen or the Knock, right? Is that how you say it? The Knock?

Rebecca Singer (05:03):Yes, it is the Knock. I just enthusiastically embraced all the things that we do with CIFT, but we had some funding cuts and so our primary focus at the moment is our kitchen. Not that that is brand new. We have been running the shared use facility for 20 years, but it was kind of a

(05:27):Little bit under the radar. It wasn't quite as glitzy as some of the other things that we were doing and maybe didn't generate as much excitement because we weren't dealing and talking about the technology component as much. But oh my goodness, if you want to talk about inspiration and you want to talk about people's drive and determination, we get to see that every single day. These folks come in and they have nothing more than a recipe and a desire to make it into major retail outlets and we guide them through that entire process. And when I say that, it's primarily that our staff kind of gives them assistance along the way, but then we also have a space where they can rent equipment and actually manufacture their products. So we get a little bit of that very fundamental foundational entrepreneurship vibe going on at the kitchen.

Libby Wixtead (06:28):That's so exciting. So I love to cook and I know there's a lot of farm wives that have always said, "Man, I should do a harvest delivery kind of group." And it sounds like this is a place where they could possibly go to make it happen or even test recipes maybe.

Rebecca Singer (06:46):Absolutely. We have so many people that just have, they may have a recipe that's been passed down for generations or they've seen something that inspired them that they thought, "I wonder if I could do that. I don't necessarily want to quit my job right now and step into that, but how can I test it? And how can I figure out if it's for me? You can come and use the kitchen and really pilot projects. We have companies that are doing catering, food trucks, meal prep. They're doing special events, or they might be doing a shelf-stable retail product. And then what ultimately ends up happening is once they get into the groove and they're meeting the other people and they're hearing other stories, then they might even go on a whole different path than they anticipated. But it gives them that support system and that structure to understand or at least have confidence that they're going about it in the right way.

(07:38):So

(07:40):It's super fun to be able to engage in that type of a platform. I have to say one of the key things that we have done over the years is our focus groups because almost every person that comes in, their friends and family love their product and want them to do something with it. Well, your friends and family love you too, and they don't want to tell you their full opinion sometimes or they don't want to shine a light on something that can maybe improve. But you're able to come into a safe environment of entrepreneurs and experts that can say, "Maybe if you tweak this a little bit or if you implement this particular element, you might resonate more with consumers that you're searching for. " And so it's just that perfect balance where you can support them, but you can also give them a little bit of guidance along the way.

Libby Wixtead (08:27):Yeah, that is awesome for entrepreneurs to be able to have other people to bounce their ideas off of who maybe have walked in their shoes before. And really I think it was John Maxwell who said you bring an idea to the table and then it's a group of people, your leaders that help you really create it into a great idea. And I think that sounds like that's what you guys are doing with these entrepreneurs and these ideas that they have.

Rebecca Singer (08:55):Absolutely. And the people that are using it, so you get the technical piece from our staff and you get the facility to be able to bring it to life, but the other people, the other entrepreneurs, the other small businesses, oh my goodness, they create a community of support and they share information, whether it's pricing of insurance to where they source their ingredient or how they're connecting to buyers or what they're doing. And I think that's been the most rewarding piece in the whole thing is no one sees each other necessarily as competition. They see each other as another stepping stone to getting to their goals and how they can all do it together. And so we've even created an advisory committee within the folks that utilize the facility to help us come up with new things, new resources. What are they struggling with? How can we find solutions?

(09:48):And those conversations are super valuable, not just for us, but for each of them along the way as well. So it just becomes so much bigger than what you think. When you first walk in the door, it seems like, okay, I'm going to come in and I'm going to learn something. But then if you really embrace the community aspect and all of the resources available, it can really be something pretty magical.

Libby Wixtead (10:13):Yeah. So is this kind of what we've just talked about here, is that what has inspired the creation of the kitchen and the importance in the facility in that region? Was there just a need that you guys saw?

Rebecca Singer (10:28):I would love to say that I was brilliant enough to come up with this idea all by myself. That not the case. We had been actually our food scientists on our CIFT team had been working a lot with ACENET, which is down in Southeast Ohio. And they are really the pioneers for this concept. They've done a fantastic job of operating in a kitchen of their own and then helping other people establish them across the country. And we had been working with them and the idea came back on Northwest Ohio has a rich heritage in food processing. We have a tremendous amount of activity where we have restaurants that have value-added products that they spin out and we have specialty crop production and we have all these pieces. Could we do something similar in Northwest Ohio? So I would not take the approach that I now consult with our tenants on, on doing your due diligence and really making sure you've evaluated the market opportunity and making sure there's a solid need and doing all those things that I encourage people to do.

(11:39):We didn't really do that. Kind of went on a hunch that it would be something that would be valuable and we had some great partners to help bring it to fruition. And that was 20 years ago. So I guess we hit some of the right marks. But I think what makes ours also very unique is the fact that we bring that level of technical capability to the table. Many others, there's Share Juice Kitchen and commercial kitchens all around and they all do great work and they all serve a purpose, but we try to elevate ours a bit more with the emphasis being on how to make each of these individuals into future businesses that can stand on their own. And if you're dealing with food, you need to know the nuances associated and you have to really understand the dynamics. And so we kind of drill that into people, but the whole idea of bringing it to the region was kind of on a gut instinct that this would work just because of what goes on in Northwest Ohio.

(12:46):And I'm super excited to see some of the things that have materialized as a result.

Libby Wixtead (12:51):Yeah. Before I worked at AgCredit, I didn't realize how diverse Northwest Ohio was and what kind of crops were grown up that way further than where I'm located at. So what opportunities for those farmers does this kitchen create if they want to diversify their income stream?

Rebecca Singer (13:13):Well, we have a lot of different opportunities for farmers. If they want to come and do a value-added product and test that, those specialty crop growers have the potential to do so. So we can help them do that developmental piece and explore some of those opportunities. We hear sometimes from our farmers that it seems very overwhelming to take that step. So we try to minimize that as much as possible and convene some listening sessions and really try to give them resources. Right now we're looking at trying to partner with another group that has a curriculum that's called Farm to Food Accelerator. And it actually would take people through exactly what you need to do to think about a business opportunity. So that might be something we'll be rolling out to farmers so that they feel that they really have the information

(14:07):To be successful. Farmers can also really support the ingredients that many of our users of the kitchen, they want to do local because they're a small local entity trying to step up. So making those connections and shortening their supply chain and being able to talk about that and tell that story is a great selling feature for everyone. It's complicated a bit. It is a little bit more labor intensive if you're taking it directly to the farm. So we're trying to figure out if there's some means of minimizing those hurdles and helping that along the way. But there's a lot of different opportunities there that any of which just by being engaged with a different level in the food system brings new opportunities. And I think just participating in those conversations and seeing what might be out there is valuable for, I would say, anyone that wants to try to diversify a bit of their revenue.

Libby Wixtead (15:11):Yeah, that's awesome. It sounds like you guys are really just trying to help take that first step of just starting, have everything figured out and really helping them with those barriers that they may or may not know even exist. With us being a financial institution, how does a kitchen help do some of those financial barriers since it is very overwhelming with a significant investment upfront for anybody that has this idea that they want to start a food business?

Rebecca Singer (15:48):I guess the biggest thing that really comes to everybody's mind right away is the access to the equipment. When somebody's trying to start something new, you want to minimize your expenses and you want to make sure that it's going to work before you dive right into it. And so having access to that equipment is probably the biggest financial piece that is available because we have companies in there that operate for average of four or five years. So it gives them time to really build their sales, try to enhance their portfolio of opportunities and feel good about it. I mean, we ultimately want people to be able to go out on their own, but it takes some time. And I mentioned too, we've been doing this for a long time and so we've seen and tested a lot of things. We've piloted a lot of things.

(16:40):So tapping into our knowledge saves a lot of time and resources for somebody who's just getting started and we probably have had some interaction to their concept and can really give them a little bit of background that elevates them faster and more efficiently.

(17:02):The other piece is really, like I mentioned, how you can gain a lot of insider information from the other people that are out there. That's a huge savings because it's near time. I mean now with the age of AI, you're probably able to find a little bit of things a little bit faster, but if you still want to have that comfort of knowing from an individual that has walked in your shoes, then that has been a huge time saver for folks. And we do a lot to support beyond just having the kitchen. We give resources and information out that relates to local packaging, local labeling companies, marketing firms, other support systems that you need to tap into so that you know where to go and that helps. And oftentimes because they're connected with us, that might be a nice avenue to be able to get some discounts or things of that nature depending on who they're talking to and what they're doing.

(18:02):So there's a number of ways that from a financial perspective it's very valuable to engage, if not with us, with any type of resource such as us with a shared use facility or incubator.

Libby Wixtead (18:16):Yeah. And I want to touch on a point that you had talked about of the wisdom that you guys have within your network of people. I've said this, I'm sure the listeners get annoyed with me talking about this almost in every podcast, but mentorship and having a board of people to be able to go to and bounce ideas off of, it sounds like you guys have created that for anybody that wants to walk through the door and especially financial barriers. I think that's really good to be able to bounce ideas and have that network and contacts with different individuals and companies. So you guys sounds like you guys are really setting these people up for success.

Rebecca Singer (18:59):That's what we hope for. We have 24 individual companies right now using the space and we've had a number of them that have been successful in graduating out and starting their own facility. If they choose not to take that route, then they may go to a co-packer and they have somebody else make the product so that they can focus on the business side. Or some people just go and maybe open up their own restaurant or get a food truck established because of their experiences. So regardless of which way they end up going out there, it's a great opportunity. And there's probably hundreds of people that we've talked to that they decided it was a little bit more than they though they wanted to do.

(19:47):That was probably the hardest thing for me to get used to when we were first starting the kitchen was that I felt like I was defleting or, I don't know, causing people to decide not to do it. I'm like, "I don't want to do that. " But at the same time, if they're exposed to here's all the things you really have to do, and if you're not ready for it or if it's really just not the time or the circumstances to do it, we'd rather have people understand that early on than invest a lot of money and have a bad experience because then you're just disappointed overall where if you have your eyes wide open going into it, then maybe you'll come back and look at it another time or you'll figure something out or maybe it'll be something that just is ready for another person to pick up and embrace.

(20:33):But that's always been one of those things that was very difficult for me in the beginning. But since then I've gotten where it's just gratifying to know that we're pointing them in the right direction.

Libby Wixtead (20:46):Yeah. Sometimes it's finding out what you don't want to do before you have that large investment in there. And yeah, that is hard when you're a big encourager for people.

Rebecca Singer (20:59):One other thing I'll just add to that too is we've been really trying to encourage the next generation to get a little bit more. So when you were talking about mentoring, we've put together this great resource for the people that are there and how they want to advance, but we also want to expose more individuals in particular younger people to all that the food industry has to offer because many times they only see one or two things and that isn't enough to get them excited about it as a career. But if we can mentor them in the same time and maybe even partner them with some of these entrepreneurs, that's when we can maybe start to see some real excitement being generated to have a future workforce or new entrepreneurs of a younger generation moving forward.

Libby Wixtead (21:49):Yeah. So I love watching Food Network Channel. That's what I have when I have on TV. And I know so many times when you watch some of those episodes, they just kind of say, "Yeah, I went in as a dishwasher and here I am a chef that's competing on Chopped." Just because they got exposed to it or they wouldn't have gone down that path. So I see where you're coming with that is a lot of our industries have so much to offer, but as kids, you don't really see that. I mean, even agriculture has so much to offer and this is a path that we wouldn't think of. What are the biggest challenges? Since we kind of talked about, okay, we have to turn people away maybe because this isn't what they think. What are some of the challenges that they face today and especially in rural areas?

(22:38):And what are some basic ways that begin to tackle those?

Rebecca Singer (22:44):First and foremost, I would say a challenge is just the food industry is hard. It's hard. It's exciting because we get very much we embrace the food network. I always say food is the one thing that just brings everyone together. And whether it's in a holiday function or a special occasion or just getting together, there's always food. There's always

Speaker 1 (23:09):Food

Rebecca Singer (23:09):It seems. And so it's exciting to be involved in the industry, but it's also really, really hard to do to make it work. And so I would say just the biggest challenge is hanging in there and understanding those things that you run into that are different than what you would have if you started another business. I've talked to a few different students who were doing their master's and they were supposed to put together a business plan and they were going to do all these things. And one gentleman wanted to start a coffee business and I told him everything he had to do. And he just sat there and was like, "I have to do all of this. " And I'm like, "Yes." He's like, "But my buddy just got a pressure washer and is now pressure washing three houses already and making money." I'm like, "That's very different." So it's just again, it is a challenge.

(24:06):So that's that piece. I would say the biggest challenge for our small businesses that have been able to move forward is distribution. And that's even harder in rural areas. When we started the kitchen,

(24:21):We had a few different distributors that would work with small food companies and help them get into different channels. Those have either shut down, they've been bought out, there's been mergers. It's just very complicated. And that is one piece that I think actually is holding some of our folks back. They can't quite get to the right distributor to maybe get into places or it's very expensive to do so. So one of the things that we're trying to do is figure out an avenue to accommodate and solve the distribution piece, whether it's creating a cooperative distribution system or having them work together instead of all independently trying to solve this because that really is a challenge. And you're seeing that even with anyone that's trying to just safely move food products from one location to another. That's a piece that it's a real hurdle. We just take for granted that things are where they are, but when you're a small business, it's hard to get into those appropriate places to get your food products out.

Libby Wixtead (25:33):Yeah, just getting your foot in the door is just hard when you're smaller. So what trends are you seeing at the intersection of agriculture and food innovation right now?

Rebecca Singer (25:50):Well, I don't think it's a surprise to anybody. The Maha movement has certainly created a stir. I mean, I think we're seeing a constant emphasis around health and paying a little bit more attention to what's taking place there and how does that correlate. I don't think there's a single day when I open up any of my food related newsletters or outreach pieces that it doesn't touch on the latest things that people are looking at, whether it's higher protein, just different types of products that they're searching for. So I really think that's a good opportunity. I mean, the food industry has tried to move with the trends as they've come about. Some of those companies, it's much easier to do that. They're a litle bit more nimble. They can do a little bit of product development in a faster fashion to meet those consumer desires. So I think we're going to see more and more things along those lines.

(26:54):I think it's a great opportunity for agriculture to tap into those specialty crop markets and do more around how do we make sure that we have a good solid local system and the ability to balance things with what we choose and to consume in our diets.

(27:15):When you talk about food innovation, again, I'm showing my age on how things kind of come full circle again, but when I was hired and I was doing that initial work for Sift, one of the things that we were looking at was how to extract the natural colorants from black carrots, purple corn and red cabbage. And it was a natural colorant for food products. And then there wasn't enough economics to support it. There wasn't a push or desire to do it, but now that's changed. And so it is how these things, there's a huge opportunity there for going back to our roots and getting into the crops that can actually provide a lot of the things that we need and that a lot of people are desiring right now. And it's just how do we get that information out there? How do we make sure that it can happen in a manner that is economical?

(28:12):Because that's what tends to slow things down. And if we can make some of those connections happen, there's a lot of good innovation that we can continue to see in the industries.

Libby Wixtead (28:27):Yeah. So looking at what you're talking there, looking into the future, what's your long-term vision for Knock and its impact on the region?

Rebecca Singer (28:41):Well, I would love to continue to churn out new companies. I would love to see some of them be successful, continue to grow. One of our signature ones is Willie Salsa. So anyone that's in Northwest Ohio, go get some Willie Salsa because it's a unique product. It's great. They used our kitchen for a number of years and now they're in all 50 states, which is a super monumental achievement for a small business and watching them grow so they moved into their own facility and then they've expanded a couple times and we've been able to be part of that journey with them. I would love to see that continue to happen in a number of occasions and circumstances. I'd also really enjoy if we could get more connections with some of our younger people and somehow make that work and get that mentorship thing a little bit stronger and working with those startup businesses would be exciting.

(29:38):Trying right now, a big push on just trying to continue to keep the kitchen something that is available and around for a period of time. The fact that we've been here 20 years is pretty fantastic, but that takes a lot. And so trying to get more community involvement, corporate involvement and support to keep this as a viable resource because I was telling somebody the other day, it's very, very difficult to keep a facility running when it's there to support entrepreneurs because they come and go, they have a lot of different ideas, they run into roadblocks and they stop. You can't just project, here's how many I anticipate we're going to have, because you really don't know. And there's no database for entrepreneurs to go sell your services to. And I've already said the food industry is pretty hard to get into, so we have to get really creative on how we maintain these types of resources and who we partner with and how we build on them because the stronger and the more viable and successful the businesses are that come out of it, the better it is for our communities as a whole.

Libby Wixtead (30:48):That's so exciting. What excites you most right now about Ohio Agriculture, the future of food industry, and the way it's innovating and changing in Northwest Ohio?

Rebecca Singer (31:05):Well, of course I'm biased because I'm sitting where I'm sitting in Northwest Ohio, but I think I'm just excited to see the conversations getting deeper and really thinking more about what can we do to make changes. There's certain topics that I have to admit when they're mentioned, I'm just like, oh my gosh, we've been down that road. We've talked about it so much. We haven't been able to crack that nut. We haven't been able to make those things happen. And you have different reasons why on each occasion. But I really feel like we're on the cusp of really trying to make meaningful change and talking through what does it take to be successful and finding solutions to bring those to fruition. So that's exciting.

(31:54):And I just feel like Northwest Ohio, there's so much diversity. The state of Ohio is very diverse when you travel to other states. I mean, when you come back and really just stand back and look at what Ohio has to offer, it's quite impressive. But each region is also very unique, which is so crazy considering that it's within the state that's possible. But Northwest Ohio, sometimes I think we just kind of always have just kept doing what we do and working hard and making things happen and finding ways to be creative and innovative. And sometimes others don't necessarily see it. And sometimes when they do, I think it's kind of exciting because it's surprising to them that, "Hey, this is really going well. What are they doing up there that is making this successful?" And so I'm excited to see some of those types of things continue to develop.

(32:49):Our agricultural efforts, there's so much opportunity for people to continue. One of the things we had been working on was sustainable food packaging and how do we link that to some of the raw materials that can come from agriculture and do things in a meaningfully different way? And I think as you keep finding those places where we can have those conversations and have people willing to step up and participate, good things will come out of that.

Libby Wixtead (33:18):Yeah, absolutely. And lastly here, many of our listeners are deeply rooted in agriculture and food production. What's one takeaway that you'd like to leave us with about getting involved in a value-added food venture that you would really like to stress?

Rebecca Singer (33:44):I think mine is just kind of going back to what I said earlier, that it isn't easy and it isn't for everyone, but it can be incredibly rewarding to walk down a grocery store aisle and see your great-grandmother's recipe available for consumer enjoyment or take that journey of how fantastic if you're growing the ingredients yourself and then you're processing it and then you're presenting it into a marketplace that can embrace it and be excited about it. I think don't overanalyze, but come and ask questions so that it can help guide you to know if it's the right place for you because it might be a little surprising that taking that role of a value-added product might be exactly what you need or would enjoy doing and excel at. So keep the open mind, least investigative before finalizing and then how cool would it be to continue to see more and more Ohio products out there for consumer enjoyment?

Libby Wixtead (34:56):Absolutely. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining us. I have learned so much and you guys are doing some really exciting things. And I think some of my takeaways are you're helping food entrepreneurs take that first step. Even though we don't have everything figured out, you're helping them take that first step and really guiding them through. Secondly, you guys have a lot of knowledge and wisdom and there could be mentorship there to help everyone along the way. And you guys just have a big network, some very good success stories, and you guys are just doing an awesome job up there. So I really commit you on what you guys have done and thank you so much for joining us and sharing what CIFT is all about.

Rebecca Singer (35:44):Well, I appreciate you saying that. And just as like I tell all of our people that are coming in the kitchen, it takes a whole village to make things work sometimes. And we've been fortunate to be able to really tap into the knowledge of many, many, many others who have either went down the path of what we're doing or have inspired us to continue to do the work that we do. And so just continuing to try to pull at those strings of innovation and pull at those strings of inspiration and bringing them together and keeping people talking and thinking about food. If we can do that every day, then we've done a good job.

Libby Wixtead (36:28):Yeah, absolutely. Taking that journey and seeing what can happen. So thank you again and thank you to our listeners for joining us. Tune in next time to AgCredit Said It where the farm financials go beyond the balance sheet. We'll see you next time.

Speaker 1 (36:51):Thank you for listening to AgCredit Said It. Be sure to subscribe in your favorite podcast ap or join us through our website at agcredit.net so you'll never miss an episode