Choosing a commissary kitchen is one of the most consequential decisions you'll make in the first year of your food business. It shapes your cost structure, your production capacity, your health-authority paperwork, and — quietly — how fast you can grow.
Most founders pick a commissary kitchen the way they pick a gym: closest one, lowest price, fewest awkward forms. Then six months in, they realize the booking system is unfair, the cooler is full of other people's product, the "all-in" rate isn't all-in, and the kitchen has no idea what to do when Fraser Health asks for an updated label.
This guide is the checklist we wish every founder had before signing anywhere — including with us. It's written from the inside, after 200+ food businesses have launched out of our facility in Port Coquitlam. If you walk into a tour with these twelve questions, you'll filter the right kitchen for your business in about an hour.
What a commissary kitchen actually is (and isn't)
A commissary kitchen — sometimes called a shared commercial kitchen or shared-use kitchen — is a licensed commercial space that multiple food businesses use to prep, cook, package, and store product. In British Columbia, the facility itself is approved by the local health authority (Fraser Health, Vancouver Coastal, etc.), and individual members operate their own permitted businesses out of it.
That's different from:
- A ghost kitchen — a delivery-only restaurant, usually a single brand using a private cubicle inside a larger building.
- A private commercial kitchen build-out — your own leased space with your own equipment, which typically runs $80,000 to $250,000+ before you cook your first batch.
- A home-based food business — restricted in BC to low-risk products under specific exemptions; not viable for most wholesale, catering, or scaling operations.
Commissary kitchens exist because the math of building your own kitchen rarely works for a business doing under, say, $300,000/year. You share fixed costs, you share equipment, and you keep your capital free to spend on product, packaging, and sales — which is what actually grows a food business.
The 12 questions to ask before you sign
Bring this list to every tour. The answers tell you more than the marketing.
1. Does the equipment actually match what you make?
"Fully equipped" means different things. A catering-leaning kitchen may have large tilt skillets and bulk steamers but limited prep-table space for portioning. A bakery-leaning kitchen may have several stand mixers but few large-capacity stovetop burners. Walk the floor, name your three highest-volume SKUs, and ask exactly which pieces of equipment you'd use to make them — and what the booking process looks like for those pieces specifically.
2. How is storage handled — and is it dedicated?
Storage is the single most common source of resentment between members and kitchens. You want clarity on three categories: dry, cold, and freezer. For each, ask: is my storage clearly labelled and assigned to me — even if it sits on open shelving — or is it unmarked space shared first-come-first-served? How many cubic feet are included in my membership, and what does additional storage cost?
If the answer is vague, your ingredients will go missing.
3. What's the real total monthly cost?
Compare apples to apples. The advertised rate often doesn't include cleaning fees, monthly maintenance fees, additional storage, parking, after-hours access surcharges, dishwasher fees, or commercial-grade pest control charges. Ask for a one-page breakdown of every line item a current member pays in a typical month. If they can't produce it in writing, that's information too.
4. Who owns the relationship with the health authority?
In BC, every food business in a commissary kitchen needs its own Food Processing Approval from the health authority. Most members are approved under the commissary's existing permit — your menu, processes, and labels are reviewed and approved through the facility. Members making higher-risk products and selling directly to consumers typically need their own Food Premises Permit on top of that. A good kitchen will walk you through your operational plan, help you write your processes, review your labels, and be present during the inspection or follow-up with Fraser Health (or other authority). A weaker kitchen will hand you a binder and a phone number.
Ask: "When was your last health-authority inspection? Can I see the report?" Then ask: "What's your process when a new member applies for their permit?" The depth of the answer tells you whether they've done this 5 times or 50.
5. How does scheduling work when the kitchen is busy?
Shared kitchens get busy at predictable times — early mornings, weekends before farmers' markets, the last week before holidays. The question is what happens at 4:00 AM Saturday when everyone needs an oven. Ask to see the booking system, ask how far in advance members typically book, and ask whether certain equipment has priority access for higher-tier members.
6. What insurance do they require, and what do they carry?
You'll need commercial general liability ($2M is standard in BC, sometimes $5M for certain channels) and product liability. Confirm what's required, what the facility itself carries, and whether the kitchen has had any past claims related to food safety or facility damage. A kitchen that doesn't know its own claim history is one to be cautious about.
7. How long is the contract — and what happens if you need to leave?
Many kitchens advertise "month-to-month" but require 60–90 days notice, retain a non-refundable deposit, or charge an exit fee. Others run 6- or 12-month agreements at lower monthly rates. There's no universally right answer — but there's a wrong answer for you. If you're testing an idea, prioritize true flexibility. If you're committed and want a lower rate, a longer agreement is usually the better deal.
A note on commitment-style kitchens (including ours): kitchens that require a real agreement do so because they're filtering for serious operators. The trade-off is a more stable community, less turnover, and usually more support — at the cost of less ability to walk away on a whim.
8. Who are the other members?
Some kitchens accept anyone; others curate. Ask how many active members the kitchen has and what categories they make in (baked goods, sauces, frozen meals, beverages, catering, etc.). Most well-run kitchens host multiple operators in the same category — several bakers, several sauce makers — without anyone losing out, because the real constraint is equipment hours and prep space, not category overlap. The question to ask isn't "will anyone else here make what I make?" — it's "does this kitchen have the equipment time and space for all of us to grow?" The other reason to ask about members is community: knowing who else is in the room means introductions, shared learnings, and sometimes real collaboration on packaging, distribution, or markets.
9. What support exists beyond the four walls?
The strongest commissary kitchens in Metro Vancouver have evolved into something closer to small-business support hubs. Look for: introductions to packaging suppliers, ingredient distributors with member pricing, labelling and nutritional analysis services, coaching on pricing and wholesale, and connections to farmers' markets and retail buyers.
Equally important — and often more valuable — is the peer support. Ask whether the kitchen runs regular member meetups (coffee & mingles, working sessions, group calls) where founders trade hard-won experience on production, suppliers, regulatory hurdles, and growth. An hour at a casual member coffee is often worth more than three hours on Google.
Most of these aren't on the website. Ask.
10. What's the path when you outgrow them?
A good commissary kitchen has a clear answer for what happens when your business doubles. Maybe that's adding hours, dedicated storage, or part-time staff working in the space. Maybe that's a referral to a private build-out partner. A kitchen that's never thought about this is a kitchen that loses its best members on bad terms.
11. How is conflict between members handled?
Equipment left dirty. Storage encroachment. Booking disputes. These happen in every shared space — the question is whether there's a clear, written process and an actual person responsible for enforcing it. Ask for the member handbook. If they don't have one, your future complaints will be theatre.
12. What's the on-ramp from tour to first cook?
Walk through the full timeline: tour → application → deposit → Fraser Health permit → first booking. A well-run kitchen can articulate this in about thirty seconds and give realistic dates. If the answer is "well, it depends," it usually depends on whether they remember to follow up with you.
Red flags that tell you it's the wrong fit
- Pricing pressure on the tour. Any kitchen pushing you to sign in the parking lot is filtering for the wrong things. The right kitchen wants committed members, not impulse buyers.
- No written agreement, no member handbook. "We keep it simple" usually means "we make it up as we go."
- The owner has never run a food business themselves, and no current member is willing to talk to you. Operators who've never been on your side of the counter often miss the things that actually matter.
- Hidden fees discovered on the contract. Cleaning, storage, parking, after-hours, dishwashing — all of these are reasonable to charge for, but they should be in the pricing you saw on the tour.
- Equipment that's clearly past its service life. Walk past the ovens. Look at the seals on the coolers. Open the dishwasher. Equipment tells the truth.
- No track record with the health authority. A kitchen that can't tell you which inspector handles their file is a kitchen that will be no help on your application.
How Metro Vancouver's commissary kitchens differ
Each major shared kitchen in the region has a personality. There's no objectively best one — there's the one that fits how you work.
- Coho Commissary — the largest operator in the region, with multiple locations across Vancouver, Richmond, White Rock, Victoria, and Gibsons. A good fit for businesses that want flexibility across locations and a high-volume environment.
- YVR Prep — Burnaby-based, long-established, central. Busy and energetic; good for operators who like that hustle and don't need a lot of hand-holding.
- Commissary Connect — multiple Vancouver locations; well-known to longer-established operators in the city.
- Surrey Commissary and other South-of-Fraser facilities — relevant if you're already living or distributing east of Vancouver and want to keep transport short.
- Sincerely Kitchen — our facility in Port Coquitlam. Smaller, curated membership; deeper involvement in the Fraser Health approval process; regular member coffee & mingles for peer support; a quieter environment built around longer-term operators. A 6-month membership agreement is standard because we're filtering for founders who are actually building, not testing.
If you're touring multiple kitchens — which you should — the comparison post you want is our 2025 pricing comparison guide, which lays out monthly rates side-by-side.
The Sincerely Kitchen incubator (Sept 2026 cohort)
If you're earlier in the journey — past the hobby phase, serious about building a real business, but not yet ready to walk into a commissary kitchen on your own — we run a small 4-to-5-person incubator cohort twice a year. The next intake is September 2026.
The cohort is built for committed founders. Over six months, you get production access, structured coaching on pricing and packaging, support through your Fraser Health permit, and direct introductions to the retailers, market managers, and distributors we've worked with for years. We deliberately keep the group small because the value isn't the room — it's the people in it.
If that sounds like a fit, the Get Started page is the right next step. We talk to every applicant before accepting anyone.
Frequently asked questions
What does a commissary kitchen cost in Vancouver?
Metro Vancouver commissary memberships typically run $750 to $2,000 per month, depending on hours, storage, and equipment. Lower tiers (20–40 hours/month) sit between $750 and $1,000; heavier production tiers (80–90 hours/month) range from $1,400 to $2,000. Hourly drop-in rates exist at $25–$45/hour but are rarely cost-effective once you're producing weekly.
Do I need my own Fraser Health approval to use a commissary kitchen?
Yes. In BC, every food business operating from a commissary kitchen needs its own Food Processing Approval from the relevant health authority (Fraser Health, Vancouver Coastal, etc.). Most members are approved under the commissary's existing permit — your menu, processes, and labels are reviewed through the facility. Members making higher-risk products and selling directly to consumers typically need their own Food Premises Permit on top of that. Good commissary kitchens will guide you through this; weaker ones will not.
How long is a typical commissary kitchen contract?
Contracts range from month-to-month to 12-month agreements. Many kitchens that advertise "flexible" terms include notice periods, non-refundable deposits, or exit fees that effectively lock you in. Six-month agreements are common at kitchens prioritizing stable, committed operators.
What's the difference between a commissary kitchen and a ghost kitchen?
A commissary (shared) kitchen is a licensed commercial space where multiple food businesses produce for wholesale, catering, markets, or e-commerce. A ghost kitchen is a delivery-only restaurant operation, usually a single brand renting a private space inside a larger facility. Commissary = production for many channels. Ghost = delivery-only restaurant.
Can I store ingredients and finished product at a commissary kitchen?
Yes, but how storage works varies widely. Some kitchens include dedicated labelled shelves plus assigned cooler and freezer sections in your membership; others charge separately per shelf or per cubic foot. Always confirm whether your storage is dedicated (labelled and assigned to you) or shared (open to other members) before signing.
What insurance do I need to use a commissary kitchen in BC?
Most BC commissary kitchens require commercial general liability of $2,000,000 minimum, plus product liability coverage. Some retail channels (large grocery, big-box) will require $5,000,000. Costs typically start around $40–$80/month for a small food business and scale with revenue.
Can I work from a commissary kitchen overnight or on weekends?
Most do offer 24/7 or extended access, but the specifics vary. Some include after-hours access in the base membership; others charge a premium or require advance booking. Bakers and farmers' market vendors should specifically confirm overnight access before signing.
The bottom line
The right commissary kitchen isn't the cheapest one, the closest one, or the one with the slickest website. It's the one where the equipment fits your product, the storage is honest, the schedule is fair, the health-authority support is real, and the other people in the room are building something serious.
Switching kitchens at year two — once you have Fraser Health approval tied to a facility, a labelling system, regular customers, and a delivery rhythm — is painful and expensive. The hour you spend asking these twelve questions before you sign is the cheapest hour you'll ever spend on your business.
If Sincerely Kitchen sounds like a fit, book a tour here. We're a small, curated kitchen — we meet with every prospective member before accepting them, and we'd rather have one founder who stays five years than five who churn through in six months.