The Savvy Entrepreneur features The Hatchery, Chicago's incubator focused on food & beverage startups, and how they help their members.
Nathalie Shmulik is The Hatchery's Chief Strategy & Incubation Officer. She's a go-to resource for launching a successful food and beverage business. She has owned & operated her own restaurant, and worked as a consumer experience consultant for one of Ontario's largest supermarket chains. She also worked as a brand strategist for the first cold brew tea company. She's a regular contributor to Food Business News, and was featured as one of the Chicago Tribune's 10 Business People to Watch in 2020, and received the Specialty Food Association's award for leadership in vision.
She shares how and why The Hatchery was founded. She talks about how Chicago has long been a hub for new food and beverage businesses.
She also explains the services offered by The Hatchery, including shared kitchens, 54 private kitchens, classes, co-working spaces, mentoring, and access to funding and subject matter experts, as well as The Sprout accelerator program.
The Hatchery currently houses about 100 companies producing onsite, but supports in other ways another 100 food & beverage companies. Although The Hatchery is relatively new on the Chicago entrepreneur scene, it has already helped launch several successful businesses.
And along the way, they have created an amazing sense of community. That shines through in interviews with past guests on the show, including DoWell Brands, Lus Oasis, Amie's Krisps, and Kavnia Coffee. And, The Hatchery remains committed to being an integral part of the diverse neighborhood where they are located.
Click on the arrow to listen to our interview, or go here to read a transcript of our chat.
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