London Inc. March/April 2023 - 27

couple months, which leaves us
with more time to work on our
business rather than every
other day in the kitchen. "
Long says there's no question
that he'll keep using the
space until the business is big
enough to invest in its own
production equipment.
That's the model Smith and
The Grove were hoping to create: a
space that is flexible and accessible
to small producers who might otherwise
be limited to small and less efficient
facilities. " We looked at it holistically - what's
the next level? " Smith explains. " What would be a barrier
for somebody going from the incubator phase, where they're
making maybe 500 to 1,000 units of something; how do we
get them to 2,000 to 5,000? "
What Smith didn't necessarily expect was how quickly
a community of entrepreneurs would form within The
Grove's walls. " We're building community, " he says, " and
that is sometimes what you [entrepreneurs] need most
- someone to bounce an idea
off. And I'm finding that's
what we've created without
really envisioning it when we
launched. "
With a couple years left of
its funding agreement with the
feds, Smith says they are now
starting to have discussions
about what the future looks like.
" We've also, from a business point
of view, tried to make sure the model
is self-supporting, " he says. " If it's all
going well, it should continue to fund itself. "
What The Grove - and government funders,
local economic development groups, potential investors and
existing food processing startups - all hope to see going
forward is that those in the food industry keep making use
of this resource, to maintain a steady stream of experimentation,
creativity and growth.
" It doesn't matter where you're entering into this food
processing world, " Smith says. " We have the place for you to
start, wherever you're at. "
MARCH / APRIL 2023 | londonincmagazine.ca | 27
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London Inc. March/April 2023

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