The city of Kamloops could soon be home to a food hall similar to one at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

The project – located at the Spirit Square development – is being guided by local restaurateur Mitch Forgie, along with the Kamloops Food Policy Council and ARPA Investments.

ARPA Partner Joshua Knaak says the food hall will help people break into the food service industry.

“As a landlord you’re looking for a five year or maybe a ten year commitment. In this case, there’s some recognition that hopefully they’ll outgrow it in a year or in two years time and then they’re looking for their own space,” he said on NL Newsday.

If you’re curious what a food hall is, Knaak says think food court, but one with ‘slow food’ not fast food options.

“The concept of a food hall is we build some efficiencies and it’s really a turn key opportunity for somebody to come in and do what they do best, which is developing dishes, cooking and serving food and there’s another entity that takes care of the rest of the detail,” Knaak noted.

“So not everybody needs to have their own individual cooler. We can have one large cooler. Not everybody needs to have their own dish-pit, there can be one.  This is just reducing costs, reducing capital and making this more affordable for people to test out.”

The vision and design for the food hall comes from a feasibility study by the Kamloops Food Policy Council, which noted that in addition to the food hub in Kamloops, a commissary kitchen would also be sustainable and successful.

“We worked with Mitch to develop business plans for the food hall itself but also business plans for each restaurateur to figure out what they could anticipate for sales, and what they could anticipate for costs,” said Knaak.

The concept is still in the preliminary stages, but the food hall is expected to have space for five hot food vendors. There may also be a bar, an open seating area, and the potential for live music.

Food Hub Project Manager with the Kamloops Food Policy Council, Robyn McLean adds the space would also include distribution opportunities by including market space for both processed foods and local produce.

“A community commissary kitchen would be leased for a low price by Kamloops Food Policy Council based on the purchase cost of kitchen equipment and provide dedicated kitchen and processing space to accommodate businesses requiring significant kitchen time on a weekly basis,” she said.

An event at the United Way’s Xchange space on Tranquille Road next Tuesday will aim to gauge interest among food producers and manufacturers.

The goal, if the concept moves forward, is to have the food hall and commissary kitchen up and running by Summer 2021.