First Run Accelerator

The First Run Accelerator (formerly the Union Kitchen Accelerator; unionkitchen.com/accelerator now redirects here) meets food & beverage founders at the idea stage and builds the brand with them, inside First Run's own manufacturing, distribution, and retail infrastructure. It is a six-month program with one playbook: in the first 90 days First Run launches the product (product, pricing, packaging and the first production run, ready for any retailer), and in the next 90 days it proves it on real shelves with real customers, until the numbers say the brand is worth scaling. Brands that hit the three signals (customer obsession, healthy margins, low competition) get in front of First Run's angel network, and the Fund takes proven brands from regional to national. Food & beverage only; applications are rolling.

Key Benefits

• Days 0-90 'We launch it': diagnostic and category fit, formulation in First Run's facility, shelf-ready packaging design, production and pricing (40-50% gross margin target), and a first production run built for any retailer and distributor
• Days 90-180 'We prove it': local launch and first doors, local sales push to build real sales history, a first real margin check, then warm distributor introductions (only with real sales) and an intro to the angel group
• Access to First Run's own manufacturing, distribution, and retail infrastructure
• A path to the First Run Angel Network and Fund for brands that hit the three signals

Eligibility

• Food & beverage brands only, from the idea stage ('You have a product — or a recipe and the will')
• What they look for: wins on product, not promotions; belongs in the aisle (or the freezer); moves fast with people who've done it; ready to do the hard things
• Not a fit (Pitch Us page): restaurants or single-location concepts, pure foodservice, supplements, anything that cannot be put on a retail shelf or into eaters' hands

Program Structure

• Getting in: 1. Contact us (tell us what you're building) 2. Call (we dig in together) 3. Tour (see the kitchen and the system) 4. In (you're in the cohort)
• Day 0-15 Diagnostic & Category Fit; Day 15-45 Product & Packaging; Day 45-70 Production & Pricing; Day 70-90 First Production Run
• Day 90-110 Local Launch & First Doors; Day 110-150 Expanding; Day 150-170 Margin Reality & Proof; Day 170-180 Distributor Intros & Underwriting
• Rolling applications, no deadlines