Worcester Regional Food Hub heads downtown to Main Street

WORCESTER — For the last two years, the ground floor of the Worcester Plaza glass tower has remained empty. But as of Wednesday, the space is now quite full — with flavor. 

“There’s going to be food from Ghana, El Salvador, Jamaica — all over the world,” said Shon Rainford, director of the Worcester Regional Food Hub.

Wednesday saw the soft opening of the Food Hub’s new downtown location at 446 Main St., which will not only host associated vendors but also various classes, events and the hub’s own store stocked with locally-sourced products.

To start, hours will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the intent to expand to regular hours in the coming week to serve breakfast and lunch. Upon fully opening, hours are planned for 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

At the beginning of this year, the Food Hub announced plans to move to Union Station allowing for more kitchens, greater storage capacity, a storefront and event spaces, but construction delays encouraged the organization to look elsewhere in the meantime.

While Union Station still remains the plan, Rainford said the Food Hub is “not going to open there anytime soon.” He said the opportunity at Worcester Plaza presented itself at just the right moment, when the building’s owners, Synergy Investments, contacted The Food Hub, resulting in a three-month lease.

“Hopefully everybody’s happy at the end of that period and we can continue on,” said Rainford, adding that the Main Street location may remain open even after the Union Station project is completed. Until then, he said, some of the items purchased for Union Station such as refrigerators and tables will be used at the Main Street location as “a way to put to use some of the investment we’ve already made.”

Food Hub’s mission continues 

Along with acting as a wholesale distributor for local food products, a core part of the Food Hub’s mission is fostering the growth of local businesses and startups through classes and offering shared kitchen space at its original headquarters in the Greendale People’s Church at 25 Francis St. Phi Le and Nguyen Duong, the proprietors behind Coco Vibez, a coconut-based juice business, started by operating out of the church, taking online orders and making delivery runs. 

Option other than farmers markets and other outdoor events

While 446 Main St. does not have any additional kitchens, it does allow the organization to provide a permanent location as well as greater space for its member businesses, such as Coco Vibez, to operate instead of relying solely on farmers markets and similar events that are often held outside and subject to weather and other variables. 

“Farmers markets outdoors in February aren’t all that fun,” said Rainford. 

“People are constantly getting rained out because we don’t have a backup location,” said Rob Morris, Food Hub’s food entrepreneurship manager.

Combined with the fact that many events that startups join tend to be on weekends, leaving only a two-day window, a single rainy weekend can be disastrous for a fledgling business.

“You can only do so much in two days,” said Morris. “A lot of these companies are one or two people, with maybe a few friends or family helping out — booking enough events for a whole week's worth of money in two days is really difficult.”

More than 70 businesses

In contrast, an indoor space situated in the heart of downtown Worcester means a business would go from doing one event on the weekend to working at a regular location five days a week, attracting hungry crowds Monday through Friday. And Morris is certain there will be crowds.  

“We can do a lot more variety (than traditional restaurants) because we have over 70 people who work out of our kitchens,” he said. “So we have the opportunity to rotate in over 70 different businesses.” 

The change represents a new chapter for all associated businesses — which can be a little daunting.

"I'm excited, but definitely also a little nervous," said Duong. 

Zaida Melendez, who launched Belen Bakery this past summer, specializing in both El Salvadoran and American baked goods, is just happy to be out of the elements — and Wednesday's weather drove home the point.

"It's great to be indoors, especially on a rainy day," she said with a glance out the window at the overcast skies. 

Offering classes

Morris is also in charge of a number of classes offered by the Food Hub, which will now operate out of the new building including ServSafe, Choke Save and First Aid training, along with a grant for a six-week class on starting a food business.

“What we say is, 'Hey, you’re a great cook, but you’ve never done food costing, so here are the basics,' ” Morris said.

Previously, classes had been held at the Francis Street location, and Morris said he looks forward to leading classes in a new professional setting, not to mention better Wi-Fi. 

“All Food Hub members are folks looking to grow their business,” said Rainford. “The real goal is to establish themselves that when it comes time that they want to open their own restaurants, that they’re ready to go.”