Some kitchens have restructured their space to enforce social distancing among their clients: Serve, an incubator kitchen in Holyoke, MA, redesigned their kitchen layout to allow only four prep spaces as opposed to eight or ten spaces.Īdditionally, kitchens now rely on increased hygiene measures: mask requirements, sanitizer stations and regular kitchen cleanings to aid in controlling the spread. Those who operate and use a shared kitchen have an increased accountability concerning the spread of the virus. “We’re all in this together” is an all too familiar phrase when talking about the COVID crisis, but the cliched expression should not cloud the message: if members in the kitchen refuse to follow new health procedures, they risk endangering their customers as well as other members in the kitchen. So, how can shared kitchens-which depend on close contact in the kitchen through shared space and appliances-navigate a COVID-19 world? Salsi Ranch: Grower, preserved lemons, capers.In recent months since the surge in coronavirus cases in the U.S., many businesses have reevaluated their business plans, making major changes to protect their community. Reposteria Moreno: Crepes, funnel cakes, catering. Some but not all have a website.Ī Persoff and Son: Apple cider vinegar.
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This story is the first in a series profiling businesses from the kitchen incubator El Pajaro Community Development Corp. “Don’t get stuck in an idea, because usually the business will dictate the direction it wants to move.” “The way I look at the business is being willing to listen to the clients and being willing to change,” he said. In January, he plans to continue teaching every second Saturday of the month at the Watsonville kitchen incubator. His company began teaching mole cooking classes this year, which received great response. Ruiz said he’s also learned to be flexible. So whatever you do, invest in your packaging.’,” Ruiz said.
“She said, ‘There’s many wonderful products that have horrible packaging and they don’t sell, and I’ve seen the opposite. We don’t like to have a lot of it sitting around and we only make it when we need it,” he said.Ī business lesson he took from a colleague at New Leaf is the importance of packaging and presentation, he said. Ruiz said it takes two people eight hours to make 50 pounds of his mole at the El Pajaro kitchen. She took four days to make her mole, grinding everything by hand with mortar and pestle. Ruiz said his mole recipe came from a list of ingredients his mother handed down before she died nearly a decade ago. El Pajaro will also hire marketing positions to help the budding businesses, said Herrera-Mansir. Most of the funds will be used to add a food processing line so companies can mass produce. Ruiz is one of two dozen food entrepreneurs headquartered at the El Pajaro kitchen incubator, which this month received a $799,000 federal grant to expand. My Mom’s Mole produces a refrigerated powder made from 25 ingredients such as peppers and nuts, which can be used as a marinade or simmered with stock to create a traditional Mexican sauce. Two weeks in, he met Carmen Herrera-Mansir, executive director of El Pajaro Community Development Corp., who offered him not only a manager position at her new kitchen incubator, but also use of the kitchen and help with his business plan and permitting. “I think it was something that was written in the universe.” “I just kind of closed my eyes and I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to do this,’” Ruiz said.
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At the time, he knew how to build a recipe, but not necessarily a business, he said.
The Watsonville resident managed a New Leaf Community Markets kitchen until quitting in 2013 to pursue his dream of establishing a food company. WATSONVILLE > Mexican sauce guru Cesario Ruiz of My Mom’s Mole describes his leap into food startups as an act of blind faith.
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