La Cocina

San Francisco has long been home to informal food businesses that are illegally run out of home kitchens. Although these businesses are often a vital part of the community's economy, the entrepreneurs running them face barriers to convert them into sustainable legal businesses, including a lack of financial capital, access to commercial kitchens, required permits, and language. Since 2005, La Cocina has helped to remove these barriers by providing commercial kitchen space and technical assistance to enable low-income women and immigrant entrepreneurs to launch successful food businesses. The organization focuses primarily on women from communities of color and immigrant communities. Partnership with community development financial institutions connects the businesses with needed loans, and volunteers provide services such as graphic design at low or no cost.

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.

La Cocina supports dozens of successful food businesses run by low-income women and people from immigrant communities.

In 2012, La Cocina supported 39 businesses that generated $3.35 million in revenue. Over 1,600 hours of technical assistance helped entrepreneurs develop their businesses, and the organization connected businesses with 270 market opportunities locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Thanks to the support of La Cocina, businesses were able to launch at a reduced cost and with a promising future.