COOKIN’ UP SUCCESS: Plymouth business gives start-up chefs launching pad

During routine trips to the grocery store, Marlo Bendon will spot an item that will make happy tears well up in her eyes as she’s pushing a cart down an aisle.

Bendon is the owner of Proud Mitten Shared Kitchen (and the recently-launched Proud Mitten Culinary Concepts), a Plymouth-based business that provides a facility for aspiring food creators to turn their dreams into reality.

Inspired by her late father, Bendon learned first-hand that most early-stage edibles-related entrepreneurs can’t afford a brick-and-mortar building in which to cook up their creations, so she developed a space in the Plymouth Arts & Recreation Complex (PARC) where they can do so — reducing their risk and costs.

Proud Mitten Shared Kitchen is currently the launching pad for over 50 food-related entrepreneurs, whose items can be found in grocery stores throughout Michigan and the Midwest.

Prideful tears

“I’ll see one of my chef’s or culinarian’s items in the store and I am so proud of them, I’ll literally tear up,” Bendon said. “I’ll take a photo of the item and text it to them with a ‘Look at this!’ message, and tell them how proud I am.

“There have been times I’ve been grocery shopping Up North and spotted items that are made in my kitchen. It will even have the address on the package — 650 Church St., Plymouth, Michigan — which really warms my heart.”

Bendon, a longtime resident of Plymouth, is the daughter of European immigrants who passed down their passion for food with their young daughter.

“I still remember sitting around the table when I was 5 years old and my parents would already be talking about what we were going to be eating at the next meal,” Bendon said, smiling. “Cooking and food was such a big part of their heritage.”

An advertising professional by day, her father became a popular fixture at the Plymouth Farmers’ Market, where he would sell items that originated in his European homeland.

Farmers’ market mainstay

“He’d sell breads, olive oil, olives — his stand became a can’t-miss stop for visitors of the Plymouth Farmers’ Market,” Bendon reflected. “He absolutely loved what he was doing, but he was burning the candle at both ends.

“After doing some day-in-the-life observations of my dad when I was in my 20s, I learned what he was doing was not sustainable. He was on his feet all day — not even taking time for food or water breaks.”

Sadly, Bendon said one day her dad didn’t wake up.

“He died at a very young age and I blame it partly on the fact that he was taking on this food business all by himself,” she said.

Bound and determined

Armed with a business degree, a family-honed knowledge of cooking and a desire to help early-stage entrepreneurs like her dad, Bendon opened Proud Mitten Shared Kitchen in 2014, the year the recently-closed Central Middle School was transformed into PARC.

“Once my son started school, I decided to come up with a platform to foster entrepreneurs, to give them a launching pad to follow their dreams without taking on so much risk,” she explained.

“I wanted to give them a facility that would allow them to build their brand and grow their business without worrying about paying triple-net rent for a brick-and-mortar place.”

With the tagline “Cook. Create. Collaborate.”, Proud Mitten steadily attracted up-and-coming entrepreneurs — much to Bendon’s delight.

Cool story

“I still remember when my biggest client was first starting out at Proud Mitten,” Bendon said. “Behind the kitchen door there is a ramp that was used for shipping and receiving when the room was the kitchen for Central Middle School.

“I winked at her and I said, ‘That ramp is going to come in handy for getting pallets of your product out the door when the semis come to pick up your product and deliver them to grocery stores’.

“She kind of laughed, humbly, and said, ‘I can only hope so.’ Lo and behold, a semi comes weekly now to load up pallets of her product that is sold in stores as far away as Chicago and Ohio.”

While there are a number of shared-kitchen business like Bendon’s, Proud Mitten is one of just two in Michigan that is privately owned.

Rave reviews

Judging by online reviews of the business, people who use Bendon’s facility are beyond grateful for the go-beyond-the-call-of-duty assistance she offers — something the larger shared kitchen don’t supply.

“I like to say I’m not hands-on; I’m two-hands-on,” she shared, smiling.

Bendon takes great pride in the collaboration her clients practice.

“They communicate regularly with one another,” she said. “I’ll hear them ask one another, ‘Where did you get those barcodes?’ or ‘Did you do that event in Detroit? If so, how was it?’ Stuff like that.”

More helpful space

Built on the same principle of helping entrepreneurs during their journey, Proud Mitten Culinary Concepts was launched earlier this year in the former Central Middle School home economics room at PARC to give chefs and culinarians a space to teach cooking classes.

The classes — all taught by seasoned chefs — offer a variety of opportunities, Bendon revealed.

“There are classes for kids, classes for corporate team-building, classes for spouses,” she said. “These classes make excellent gifts for people who you just can’t figure out what to buy for.

“Again, it’s all about providing a facility for chefs who want to teach but can’t necessarily afford a brick-and-mortar space,” Bendon said.

Her dad would be proud.

Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.