Once you have a product that is delicious, scaled up, and food safe, it’s time to put it to the test using methods, materials, and equipment as close as possible to what will actually be used for the production runs. This will help reduce the likelihood that you’ll need to majorly re-work your recipe or process later. 

To run a pilot, you’ll need to either rent a commercial kitchen or use a pilot plant, such as the one at the Cornell Food Venture Center or Michigan State’s Food Processing Innovation Center. In addition to verifying that your recipe is giving you the desired taste and texture, you may also want to use the results of your pilot runs to test for shelf stability and nutritional profile. Both of these are standard offerings for most food testing companies; GreenWave has worked with Eurofins because of the proximity of their North Kingstown, RI lab location to GreenWave’s farm and co-packer, however, there are many other options available.