Test Your Food Product With Real Shoppers

    Get in-store feedback, live demo insights, and retail-ready validation from consumers

    Union Kitchen helps innovation teams test food and beverage products in the most effective way possible: by putting them in front of real shoppers. Our process is grounded in real-world performance — conversations, demos, and everyday interactions that reveal what matters most to customers.

    Testing products at events for customer feedback

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Our Testing Process

    • Place Your Product in Our Stores: We launch your product in one or more of our six Union Kitchen grocery stores across Washington, DC.

    • Run Live Demos: Our staff or yours engage directly with shoppers, asking thoughtful questions and capturing honest reactions.

    • Observe Real Behavior: Watch how people interact, pick up, and buy — gaining insight from natural shopper actions.

    • Capture Key Insights: Discover what shoppers love, what catches their attention, and how they respond to your product.

    • Refine and Relaunch: Use what you’ve learned to enhance packaging, pricing, formulation, or positioning — then go again.

    → Chat with our Team

     

     

    Veggie Confetti Demo
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    Eckington 2
    3rd St Store - Exterior - Streetview

    OUR ADVANTAGE AS EXPERTS IN INNOVATION

    • Over 10+ years working with hundreds of founders, corporate innovation teams, and international food companies on consumer-driven innovation
    • Hundreds of successful product launches that have landed on more than 40,000 store shelves around the U.S.
    • Integrated Ecosystem of buyers, suppliers, experts, and partners that speeds up market entry, reduces the need for capital, and drives faster, more sustainable growth.
    • Our expertise is real and comes from running businesses in every part of the food system, not theory or academic research. 
    Food product testing
    Investor Demo Day Photos - Tabling - Tim Grant - Caribe
    Investor Demo Day Photos - Tabling - Tim Grant - True Made Foods - 2

    LEVERAGE OUR FACILITY FOR SMALL BATCH TESTING

    Our 30,000 sq. ft. commercial manufacturing kitchen is built for small-batch and pilot CPG manufacturing. Located in Washington, DC, the facility is USDA-certified, FDA-registered, Whole Foods Market-approved, and Gluten-Free certified — giving your team a turnkey space to produce anywhere from 1,000 to 20,000+ units with full food safety compliance.

    Our staff includes food safety experts with certifications in HACCP, GMP, and PCQI.

    Whether you're testing a single SKU or multiple iterations, our facility helps you make exactly what you need to learn from real consumers.

    Our Team of Experts

    Cullen Gilchrist, CEO of DC-based food accelerator
    Cullen Gilchrist, CEO & Founder
    Elena Gonzalez
    Elena Gonzalez, Chief Operating Officer 
    Barney Rubin, DC Food Startup Director
    Barney Rubin, Accelerator Director
    Pablo Bravo-Olle
    Pablo Bravo Olle, Memberships Director

    STARTUP STORIES FROM OUR ACCELERATOR MEMBERS

    From Launch to Scale