Mission Kitchen is a shared 16.000ft kitchen workspace supporting new food businesses and entrepreneurs. Situated in New Covent Garden Market, Mission styles itself as a “light kitchen” in opposition to dark kitchens.
Their mission is to build a community enabling people to work together, utilising the best kitchen equipment available. In fact, since Mission’s launch back in June 2021, it has supported more than 50 independent businesses with kitchen space and ongoing business support.
Some of the current clients at Mission include Nibs Etc, specialising in snacks using upcycled food surplus from the juice industry, and Eli & Pie, who creates pies and a range of pastry snacks which are sold at markets, festivals and events.
Refrigeration requirements
With many other clients working alongside each other, each with their own needs, Mission Kitchen needed a wide selection of equipment, with refrigeration a vital part of the process.
“Food start-ups face a lot of challenges,” says co-founder Charlie Gent. “We set up Mission to reduce the barriers they face by providing them with flexible access to kitchens and working spaces, in a way that allows them to share knowledge and build connections.”
“Before joining Mission, many of our clients have been working from their home kitchens, or working out of other businesses kitchens. They may not have had access to high quality, high volume equipment. Mission Kitchen and the equipment here lets them scale up their production and grow their business more quickly.”
“Our clients have a range of refrigeration requirements, from temporary cold holding to blast freezing. We knew we would need reliable and powerful equipment to meet their needs. Williams Refrigeration were the obvious choice,” Charlie said.
From their shared kitchen setup to private serviced kitchens, along with a development kitchen and storage space, a variety of Williams products was needed to meet Mission’s requirements. These included a selection of popular Jade upright fridges and freezers in double door configuration, as well as gastronorm counter units. Furthermore, Mission Kitchen features a number of blast chiller/freezer models, each with a capacity of 30kg, and a variety of Amber undercounter units in either refrigerator or freezer operation.
Robust reputation
All Williams products are constructed from stainless steel, which are designed for effective operation in high ambient 43°C environments, and feature powerful refrigeration systems that are operated by its energy saving CoolSmart controller, which ensures excellent temperature control and easy-to-manage operation.
“Williams have a reputation for the robustness of their products,” says Charlie. “Our rented private kitchens provide users with everything they need in one space. This allows them to work at their own pace without having to share equipment with other users in the public workspaces.”
“Given how busy Mission Kitchen can get, the decision to go with Williams equipment was a no brainer,” said Charlie.
The Williams equipment has been “very popular”, especially the Blast Chiller/Freezer models, as Charlie continued: “The Williams Blast Chiller/Freezers are working brilliantly. As well as helping members who make frozen products, they also allow others to build up larger amounts of stock to meet specific orders, without compromising on quality.”
These units allow clients to chill or freeze their meals down to required temperature and regenerate quickly. “Given the tight schedules some clients have to work to, the blast chillers/freezers help them to work at a quicker pace and meet their deadlines,” Charlie added.
Eco friendly refrigerants
Williams’ commitment to developing and improving the environmental credentials of its products was another important consideration for Mission Kitchen.
“Our project has been set up to have a positive impact on the world,” says Charlie. “Both from a social aspect, allowing businesses to get a foothold, but also encouraging them to embed sustainable practices at an early stage to help them limit their environmental impact.”
“The new models we have use eco friendly refrigerants and are very energy efficient. As refrigeration equipment is always operating, anything that helps to decrease resource use helps us improve Mission Kitchen’s sustainability, at the same time as lowering running costs!”
The project was designed by Tricon Foodservice Consultants. Williams worked closely with Collaborative Catering Projects, who helped to manage the project and procured the equipment needed for the launch.
Going the extra mile
Williams helped Mission Kitchen to complete the full installation within just two weeks and has continued to support the project since Mission opened.
“After a long construction period, we only had a few weeks for the final fit out,” says Charlie. “As we had businesses lining up to get started, we didn’t have the option to push the launch date back.”
“Williams were more than able to meet the tight deadlines we had and went the extra mile to ensure we had the kit we needed, delivered on time. The team at Williams have visited a few times now to make sure everything is working correctly and to get a better understanding of our future requirements,” says Charlie.
“We’re already looking to add more equipment, particularly more blast chiller/freezers as they’re in especially high demand. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with Williams for our refrigeration needs!”
Williams Equipment at Mission Kitchen
Mission Kitchen has three WBCF 30 Blast Chiller/Freezers, 13 Jade two door refrigerated counters, three Jade two door upright refrigerated cabinets and one Jade two door upright freezer cabinet, as well as eight Amber A135 freezer undercounter cabinets and one Amber A135 refrigerated undercounter cabinet.