08/12/2026
When the power goes out, the impact on a small food business goes far beyond the lights. Across our region, recent storms and widespread power outages have hit small businesses hard, and for food entrepreneurs, hours without electricity can mean refrigerators and freezers full of product lost, ingredients that have to be replaced, production days canceled, orders delayed, and hours of paid labor that can’t be recovered.
For the small businesses that make up the Incubator Kitchen Collective, those losses add up quickly. A refrigerator full of food isn’t just food. It’s inventory that was purchased with limited cash flow. It’s tomorrow’s orders. It’s a weekend market. It’s a catering job. It’s hours of prep. It’s income a business owner and their family were counting on. And for a growing food business operating on already-thin margins, one unexpected loss can have a lasting impact.
We’re working to make sure our kitchen members have information and resources to help them document their losses, understand their insurance coverage, and determine what options may be available for recovery.
In the meantime, we’re asking our community to remember the small food businesses behind the products you love. If a business has to cancel an order, change its availability, or take a few days to get back on its feet, give them some grace. And when they’re ready to sell again, show up.
Small businesses are resilient, but resilience shouldn’t mean having to weather every storm alone.
We’re proud to be a collective that shows up for one another, especially when things get hard.
