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About the Sunshine Kitchen

kitchen area in the Sunshine Kitchen - St. Lucie County, Florida
St. Lucie County Food Business Incubator About Sunshine Kitchen

Our Mission

Empowering food entrepreneurs to test, grow, and scale.

The Sunshine Kitchen exists to give food entrepreneurs across St. Lucie County a real shot at building real businesses. We provide affordable access to a professional commercial kitchen, catering equipment, training, networking, expert mentorship, and ongoing support, so members can focus on creating, packaging, and selling their products.

The kitchen is built for the full range of food businesses, from caterers and bakers to food truck operators, packaged-goods makers, and home cooks ready to take a recipe to market. Whether you're prototyping a small-batch hot sauce or running a full catering operation, the space and the support are here.

Members work in a fully licensed, professional environment without the cost of building one themselves. The county owns and operates the facility through the Board of County Commissioners, which keeps fees low and access predictable. Members get 24/7 access, and office staff are on site Monday through Friday during business hours.

Sunshine Kitchen: Commercial Space Available in St. Lucie County

The Sunshine Kitchen is a state-of-the-art, 10,000-square-foot commercial kitchen space available for rent in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Our Story

aerial view of the Sunshine Kitchen - St. Lucie County, Florida

The Sunshine Kitchen at the Treasure Coast Research Park

The Sunshine Kitchen opened in 2022 as the first commercial food incubator built and operated by St. Lucie County. The Board of County Commissioners invested $2.5 million to construct the 10,000-square-foot facility, betting that local food entrepreneurs would use the space to launch and grow real businesses.

That bet has paid off. Over 100 food businesses across St. Lucie County now rely on the Sunshine Kitchen to prepare, package, and store their products. Members range from food trucks and caterers to packaged-goods makers selling at farmers' markets and online.

The kitchen sits inside the Treasure Coast Research Park, a county research campus focused on agriculture and biotechnology. Its neighbors include the USDA's Horticultural Research Laboratory and the University of Florida's IFAS Research and Education Center, putting the kitchen at the center of a growing food and agricultural ecosystem.

$2.5M County Investment to Build the Facility

Inside the Facility

Commercial Kitchen Stations

Multi-station prep, cooking, baking, bottling, and packaging space, professionally equipped and commercially licensed.

Food Truck Service Bay

Fresh water access, gray water disposal, used oil disposal, and food trash service. Use the kitchen as your base for inspections.

Climate-Controlled Storage

Dry storage cages, single-door coolers, and freezer space. Keep your supplies and finished products on site between shifts.

Training and Event Space

Room for hands-on classes, cooking demos, private events, and contests. The kitchen is a learning environment, not just a production space.

Our Partners

Indian River State College

Hands-on training and culinary education in partnership with IRSC's faculty and food-service programs.

UF/IFAS St. Lucie County Extension

Food science, agricultural production guidance, and small-business support from the University of Florida's extension office.

Florida SBDC at IRSC

Full-time business consulting on site for marketing plans, regulatory navigation, and group training programs.

Voices from the Kitchen

Sunshine Kitchen Manager - Regina McCants - St. Lucie County, Florida

Our mission is to empower food entrepreneurs to test their products and grow their businesses by providing affordable access to a professional commercial kitchen, catering equipment, training, mentorship, and ongoing support.

Regina McCants

Sunshine Kitchen Manager

Meet a Few Members

Antonio runs Bistro & Beignets, a food truck operating for six years on the Treasure Coast. He uses the Sunshine Kitchen's service bay for fresh water, gray water disposal, and used oil disposal, keeping his operation environmentally responsible and inspection-ready.

Antonio Rivere

Bistro & Beignets

Jocelyn says the rental-style structure of the Sunshine Kitchen makes the cost predictable, which helps a small business with limited startup capital plan around it. For Quail Quest, that predictability has been a key part of staying viable.

Jocelyn Ribeiro

Quail Quest LLC

For JT, the ability to rent kitchen time by the hour was the difference between launching and not launching. Owning a certified commercial kitchen wasn't realistic for a startup. Renting one made EZ Fish Dish possible.

JT Montefusco

EZ Fish Dish

Ready to Get Started?

Ready to grow your food business?

From the first batch of homemade salsa to a fully scaled food truck, the Sunshine Kitchen is here to lift up local food businesses with the space, equipment, and support to turn ideas into income.

Become a Tenant