Membership with the Cumberland Culinary Center is open to Tennessee-based farmers, specialty food producers and suppliers. In order to rent space in the commercial kitchen, farmers must supply proof of liability insurance and be listed on the Pick Tennessee Products (www.picktnproducts.org) website. Organic farmers must supply proof of liability insurance and a National Organic Program (NOP) Certificate. Specialty food producers who want to use the kitchen rental services must provide documentation in the following areas: proof of liability insurance, and at least one person from the company must be certified in Food Safety training from an accredited agency such as the Tennessee Department of Agriculture or the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Farmers may use the kitchen rental services for the preparation of produce for market readiness. This service is open to both organic (as defined by the NOP) and non-organic farming operations.

Companies will be allowed to rent the kitchen facilities for an hourly rate and will be supervised by the Cumberland Culinary Center Kitchen Manager. The companies will be given the option to provide their own labor or be given the option to sub-contract labor from the Center. Companies may handle their own procurement and bring raw materials to the Center, or they will be given the option to contract with the Center to coordinate procurement activities. Other consulting services will also be available (see below).

Co-Packing Services

• Specialty food producers with products currently in production at other facilities can request a quote for the production of their products assuming that formularies and process documentation is available. The quote will identify costs for a sample batch and a cost-per-unit based on a forecasted volume.
• These producers may require Consulting Services (including procurement, nutritional analysis, batch sizing and others) to meet the Center's criteria for Product Readiness*.
• Specialty food producers with products not currently in production will be required to provide necessary documentation or to use the Center's Consulting Services.

Private Labeling
This is considered a future service offering. This will allow wholesale buyers the opportunity to choose products from the Center's membership, select packaging and production services.

Contract Warehousing
Initially, this service will be a limited offering for both raw materials and finished goods.

Infrastructure Support
The Center will provide the following for all users of the Center:

• Scheduling utilization of the Center
• Inventory control for items purchased by the Center
• Inventory control for finished goods
• Facility (Center) liability insurance
• Records management for all testing and product retention
• Food and equipment safety training
• Adherence to all Good Manufacturing Processes as identified by UT Knoxville, Food and Science Department
• FDA requirements of 21CFR108.25(f), 113.10 and 114 and the TN Secretary of Agriculture requirements of 9CFR318.310 and 381.310
• Organic Certified Processes

Optional Consulting Services

• Product development (e.g. conversion of recipes to formularies)
• Packaging selection and procurement
• Nutritional analysis
• Recommendation for services for product label development and production
• FDA registration for acidified foods
• Product cost modeling and pricing evaluations
• Distribution analysis and recommendations
• Food brokerage services
• Centralized shipping
• Raw material selection and procurement
• Business planning and market development
• Finished goods inventory management

In the event that a company cannot comply with the paramaters of doing business with the Center, the Center shall have the right to refuse providing services.

*Product Readiness applies to both Kitchen Rental and Co-Packing:

• Formularies which are defined as weighted recipes for product production
• Raw ingredients identified by source and UPC (ingredients and packaging material)
• Previous control information (fill temperature, pH, aW, equilibrium pH)
• Lab analysis (optional)
• Approved process documentation
• FDA registration for acidified foods

Note: In the event that these items are not available, then it may be necessary for the company to acquire optional consulting services prior to the Center allowing kitchen rental or for providing co-packing services.