Employment Opportunity - Graphic Design Intern

Title: Spice Kitchen Graphic Design Intern
LOCATION: US Programs, Salt Lake City, UT
START DATE: June 2022

This volunteer will work with the Spice Kitchen Incubator team and entrepreneurs to develop strong, viable businesses through visual branding and design. This volunteer will be paired with entrepreneurs to discuss the business’s vision and create a specific brand identity, logo, and additional collateral such as business cards, menus, labels, and packaging. This volunteer will also work on Spice Kitchen programmatic collateral as needed.

Employment Opportunity - Catering and Events Intern

Title: Spice Kitchen Catering and Events Intern
LOCATION: US Programs, Salt Lake City, UT
START DATE: June 2022

This intern will support the International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City’s Spice Kitchen Incubator program, a food business incubator program supporting new American and low-to-moderate income entrepreneurs. The intern will assist Spice Kitchen Incubator businesses during their time at special events, and will work with the Markets and Outreach Coordinator to plan and carry out catering events for Spice Kitchen customers.

Employment Opportunity - Development and Fundraising Intern

Title: Spice Kitchen Incubator Development and Fundraising Intern
LOCATION: US Programs, Salt Lake City, UT
START DATE: June 2022

JOB DESCRIPTION: Scope of Intern Work: The intern will assist in implementing Spice Kitchen Incubator’s 2022 Development Plan, including community and donor engagement events and activities, fundraisers, communications, and logistics of launching new services and programs.

Spice Happenings - New Cohort Begins for 2022

January & February, 2022

New Cohort Begins

Spice Kitchen Incubator kicked off the new year by enrolling its sixteenth cohort of entrepreneurs! Once through Pre-Incubation and into Incubation, this group of business owners plan to share family recipes and traditions from Iraq, Burma, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo, and others are excited to specialize in rich cakes and even dog food!

Spice Kitchen Incubator Entrepreneur Highlights 2021

January, 2022

Spice Kitchen enrolled nine new Pre-Incubation participants in 2021 and supported a total 52 participants representing 27 different countries and regions in a variety of business models; catering, food trucks, restaurants, and frozen and ready-to-eat packaged products.

2021 saw the launch or relaunch of six new businesses, and operational businesses in Incubation earned a cumulative gross income of over $250,000 in 2021 across more than 300 market opportunities.

Spice Happenings - Spice entrepreneur takes on social media

“Don't even ask an Iraqi this question,” Ali Amry says in response to whether he enjoys cooking. “All Iraqis love to cook and love to eat. And what I am not good at cooking, my wife is excellent at.” Ali’s wife, Ahed, is also his business partner at Rahma: Arabian Night Cuisine, their business which they are launching with Spice Kitchen Incubator.

Ali, who is from Baghdad, spent time at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq while he worked for the U.S. Army as a mechanical engineer. He also accumulated a great deal of food knowledge while he simultaneously worked at the embassy kitchen. The problem? While he had reliable customers preparing food at the Embassy, he does not have a customer base here in Utah. His solution is to educate himself as much as possible. Between various classes offered by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Salt Lake City, including the recent social media marketing workshop series, he has gathered several tips and tricks.

Spice Happenings - Enrolling a New Cohort

Twice a year, Spice Kitchen Incubator staff interview and enroll a new cohort of food entrepreneurs who aspire to share their culinary traditions with the community. One year ago, the team was preparing orientation with their first COVID-19 cohort - of which most entrepreneurs have experienced only a few in-person meetings and trainings over the past 12 months. In October, a smaller-than-normal cohort was enrolled. Now, with many applications, we're excited to enroll what we hope will be a full cohort of entrepreneurs!

Spice Happenings - Entrepreneurs Prepare for Greater Reach of Products

Due to the ever-changing COVID-19 regulations, many food entrepreneurs are exploring new avenues to reach customers. Several entrepreneurs in the Spice Kitchen Incubator program are developing packaged products to pitch to retailers, restaurants, and e-commerce sites.