Building Together

Chef Fernay McPherson at the grand opening of Minnie Bell's Soul Movement in the Fillmore District, San Francisco

From L to R: Entrepreneurs of Reculture Foods, Salmon Going Nuggetz, and Just Like Home Sweets

La Cocina staff and graduates who are members of our Back of the Napkin graduate services program

Leaders of incubator kitchens consulted by La Cocina gather for our Voices From the Kitchen Summit to share practices

Julie Strobel of Fladä at La Cocina’s Pop Up Night Market

2024 Highlights

Our community of entrepreneurs, staff, and partners are incredibly proud of all that La Cocina and La Cocina-born businesses have accomplished this year. Together, we:

Opened a second commissary kitchen, La Cocina on Hyde, more than doubling our commercial kitchen space available to program participants;
Celebrated 8 graduations and 6 brick-and-mortar openings, including Estrellita’s Snacks, Kayma Eatery, Lunette, Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement, Nusa, and Onigilly;
Executed two recruitment cycles, which resulted in welcoming 7 new businesses to our incubator: Bar Tanuki, Cali Sweet Cakes, Reculture Foods, Salmon Going Nuggetz, Just Like Home Sweets, Sisters Catering, and Xula;
Launched La Cocina’s graduate services program, “Back of the Napkin,” providing services to 15 graduates;
Debuted La Cocina Consulting to support kitchen incubators worldwide and hosted our first Voices from the Kitchen Summit with 6 incubator kitchen partners from across the U.S. and Auckland, New Zealand;
Hosted two events celebrating both cohorts of businesses – a dinner pop-up featuring a four-course meal by seven businesses and our first popup night market highlighting 6 businesses in our program;
Supported 500+ entrepreneurs through our program and consulting services; and
Secured 204 media hits about La Cocina’s work and the accomplishments of La Cocina-born businesses.

Key Program Metrics

We’re proud to share that in 2024, we :

Continued to support 13 generational businesses where La Cocina chefs and their children work together to grow and strengthen their food business.
- Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas
- El Buen Comer
- El Huarache Loco
- El Pipila
- Estrellita’s Snacks
- Just Like Home Sweets
- La Luna Cupcakes
- Las Guerreras (formerly La Guerrera’s Kitchen)
- Los Cilantros
- Mi Comedor
- Mi Morena
- Mixiote
- Salmon Going Nuggetz
Delivered 2,100 hours of technical assistance across 44 businesses.
Sold 1,025 La Cocina gift boxes featuring 8 packaged food businesses.
Booked 8,620 hours of below-market-rate, affordable kitchen time between our two commercial kitchen facilities – La Cocina on Folsom and La Cocina on Hyde.
Brokered 260 catering events across a diverse range of La Cocina-born businesses, generating $600K+ in sales opportunities.
Added two new cuisines (Guatemalan and Afghan) to our business roster, creating 28 different ethnic cuisine types represented across La Cocina’s community of food entrepreneurs.
Saw La Cocina-born packaged food goods in 69 grocers and retail spaces across California. ‍
Worked with 8 skilled volunteers who gave a combined total of 190 hours of their time to La Cocina entrepreneurs by working with them one on one or facilitating a workshop.

Daughter and mother duo Reyna Maldonado and Ofelia Barajas of Las Guerreras | Photo by Carolyn Fong

La Cocina staff and program participants in class at our Tenderloin Kitchen | Photo by Silent Victory

Our best-selling gift boxes are filled with delicious, handcrafted treats by La Cocina chefs and available for purchase year-round | Photo by Erin Ng

Kitty Ditpare of Kitiya Thai Eats shows off her famous chicken skewers at a catered event

Imperial Rolls by Noodle Girl at a catered event

Kukus (veggie frittatas) and dips by Aisan Hoss and Mehdi Parnia of Oyna Natural Foods

Kitty Ditpare of Kitiya Thai Eats shows off her famous chicken skewers at a catered event

We wouldn’t be able to do our work without generous volunteers, which typically starts with onboarding at our Hyde kitchen

Building Impact Through Meaningful Partnerships

We could not maximize La Cocina’s impact without meaningful partnerships. This year, alongside our partners we:

Sustained a rotating La Cocina booth at the Foodwise Ferry Plaza Farmers Market to feature 13 businesses across our program including: Adelita’s Antojitos, Baking Endeavor, Camucha’s Kitchen, Coaster Cookies, Tonantzin, Fladä, Flor de Chile, Suyos, Pacifico, Pass the Sauced, Sabores del Sur, Sal de Vida, and Tilín Tilín.
Strengthened our consulting services and partnered with and raised awareness about Soufra, a community kitchen led by and supporting Palestinian women refugees in Beirut.
Served on a coalition with FAACTS (Food & Agriculture Action Coalition Toward Sovereignty) to host the first annual SF Food Action Summit and strategize with local nonprofits, farmers, and chefs on how to advance our local food system.
Continued our partnership with Outside Lands to create a hands-on training and sales opportunity for program participants by hosting a “Sabores Del Mar” booth featuring Pacifico, Suyos, and Tokachi Musubi.
Collaborated with the California Migration Museum to feature and highlight eight La Cocina-born businesses on their interactive storytelling project “Melting Spots: An Immigrant Map of San Francisco Food.”
Worked with Zingerman’s to deliver powerful Zingtrain sessions to staff and entrepreneurs on leadership and visioning.
Conducted a “Lessons from La Cocina” workshop for 100+ incubator kitchen leaders at the Food Corridor’s Shared Kitchen Summit in New Orleans.
Partnered with Filoli to give six La Cocina participants and graduates space to produce in their garden and create unique products for their retail space.

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Building together

A Year of Growth and Impact

Who We Serve

2024 Highlights

Key Program Metrics

Building Impact Through Meaningful Partnerships