Donations

BE A PART OF DEFINING WHAT LA COCINA CAN MEAN

The mission of La Cocina is to cultivate low-income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities. We focus primarily on women from communities of color and immigrant communities. Our vision is that entrepreneurs will become economically self-sufficient and contribute to a vibrant economy doing what they love to do.

The Need

The idea for La Cocina emerged the recognition of strong desire among immigrant women in the Mission to start their own food businesses and the realization of the obstacles preventing them from doing so.

What They Have

Entrepreneurial Spirit, Business Plans and Phenomenal Food

What They Lack

Access to markets, Commercial Kitchen space, Technical Assistance and Access to Capital

Our Entrepreneurs

Program Participants | La Cocina serves low to very low-income entrepreneurs from San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area, focusing primarily on women of color and immigrant women.

Participants

• Have < $35,000 worth of assets (taking liabilities into account)
• Have < 6 employees
• Are low to very low-income*
• Have a high quality food product that they have most often been selling informally to friends and family
• Have a strong desire to own a business

*according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines
Local Community | We also aim to provide resources to local entrepreneurs who are not part of our program, as well as delicious products to food enthusiasts throughout the Bay Area.

What Your Donation Helps to Support

100% of your donation goes to program operating costs which allow La Cocina to provide low income entrepreneurs with the following resources:

Subsidized commercial kitchen space

• Program Participants pay an average of $13/hour for kitchen rental space.
• Commercial users pay an average of $35/hour for kitchen rental space

Industry-Specific Technical Assistance

• A rich network more than 100 dedicated professionals provides free or subsidized technical assistance in marketing, operations, product, sales and finances for food businesses.

Workshops

• La Cocina offers workshops to its clients and the general public in various aspects of food business knowledge.

Access to Markets and Market Positioning

• La Cocina connects vendors to market opportunities and co-branding  for the mainstream market.

The milestones that La Cocina and its client businesses reached this year continue to affirm our belief that, given the right resources, any business can succeed. That is why we are presenting you with an opportunity to support La Cocina and help these business achieve that success.

Every dollar counts. For every $1 you donate, the businesses generate $3 of revenue for the local economy plus an average of 2 jobs per business. Imagine what your donation of $50, $75, or $100 will mean to aspiring entrepreneurs, their families, and our community.