For Some Latino-Owned Businesses, Providing Food Is a Way to Support the South End

For a number of small Latino-owned food businesses, it's been a difficult year. Prices of goods have skyrocketed, and social services that address food insecurity have been squeezed. In the South End, some nonprofits and businesses are feeding people.

Roxana Pardo Garcia is executive director of Alimentando al Pueblo (AAP), a Burien-based nonprofit that provides access to culturally specific Latino foods, economic development, and leadership training. She notes that some small Latino businesses have reported a 40% to 70% drop in profit, in part because of rising costs and increased ICE activity that keep some Latino community members from going out to eat and shop.

AAP and independent Latino businesses have found ways to navigate these times.

Alimentando al Pueblo: 'Feed the People'

AAP started during the COVID-19 pandemic as a Latino food bank. The organization sources 90% of the food it distributes from Latino farms, distributors, grocery stores, and vendors. 

Garcia, who grew up in Burien, began to connect with local Latino businesses as a way to invite them to participate in food and monetary donations for AAP's food bank, which serves 500 families in South King County. After understanding more about the struggles of Latino-owned small businesses, Garcia brought together a cohort of businesses that had participated in the programs and offered to support them through the development of branding kits. She also gathered $27,000 in donations and created a voucher system to feed community members. AAP used the money to offer upfront payments to Latino restaurants, cafés, and grocery stores, and then the organization distributed vouchers at their food bank, which people could then spend at designated restaurants and grocery stores.

The cohort of businesses have also created a sheet of coupons that are distributed at their shops and at the AAP food bank. During a campaign called "Comida y Corazón," businesses donated a portion of their sales for six days to AAP, and the organization tabled at the businesses and promoted them. The result has been a connected community of independent Latino businesses and partnership with the food bank.

"The work is rooted in relationship, values, and reciprocity of 'Thank you for showing up for us. We're also showing up for you.'"

Café Dulzura

Maria and Jasmine Cid are a mother-daughter team who run Café Dulzura in Burien and are part of the AAP cohort. They serve a horchata latte — the recipe was passed down by Maria's mother — and MexiMocha, along with pan dulce, tamales, and more. 

Maria recalled that the pan dulces once weren't selling well with customers who didn't speak Spanish, so she considered bringing in croissants or muffins. But instead, she created cards bearing descriptions of the pastries, explaining, for example, that porquitos are traditional Mexican gingerbread. Maria says sales of the pastries then went up. 

Maria has noticed changes in how people spend money as the cost of living has increased. "Some people choose to come here over other places because they don't want to see small businesses close. Others say they'll only come once a month now because they don't have as much to spend," she said. 

Customers send the Cids information about ICE sightings and safety information for immigrants to pass on to others. "Things like that make me realize how important community is and how the [space] is more than just a coffee shop," said Jasmine. "We're communicating to people about their rights and keeping them informed."

Ay Caramba! Market: Mexican and Central American Goods

Ay Caramba! Market in Burien is a tidy, midsize grocery with Mexican and Central American staples: rice, beans, tortillas, plantains, spices. It also sells canned vegetables, cookies, chips, and more. The owner, Juan Carlos Sanchez, chats and laughs easily with regular customers. He grew up in South Seattle and worked at his family's grocery store for 10 years before opening Ay Caramba! Market four years ago. "I enjoy helping [people] and sometimes they tell you their stories," said Sanchez. "I'm there to listen." 

Sanchez has noticed how increased costs for items like canned goods and detergents affect customers. "Sometimes they come with coins. Sometimes their card is declined, and I notice their reaction," Sanchez said. 

He says that if someone is picked up by ICE, people tend to avoid the area where the action occurred because they worry ICE may return, which impacts nearby businesses.

Sanchez participated in AAP's food-bank fundraising campaign, and he donated 5% of all sales for six days to the organization. Sanchez says he found the campaign brought him more business since AAP promoted the campaign and the participating businesses. Sanchez says he's connected closely with other Burien businesses from the campaign. "I don't feel alone. I feel support not just from Alimentando al Pueblo, but from the rest of the businesses. We exchange ideas and check on each other," said Sanchez.

Bakescapade: Pan De Muerto and Conchas

Karen Sandoval and Cesar Martinez started Bakescapade in a commercial kitchen in Burien four years ago. Sandoval, who grew up in Beacon Hill, attended culinary school and worked as a baker and a pastry chef before starting Bakescapade. She says she missed the concha she ate while visiting her extended family in Mexico City. "All the places I worked had been American, Italian, or French," said Sandoval. "I wanted my baked goods to tell about me — my Mexican heritage, growing up in Washington, and celebrating the holidays I've grown up with."

She creates seasonal pastries, like a strawberry shortcake or blueberry cobbler concha in summer and apple pie or lemon curd concha in fall.

Sandoval doesn't have a brick-and-mortar shop, so instead she creates seasonal pastries for coffee shops. "I want more people to be intrigued by Mexican cuisine. It's an honor to be able to highlight my culture and community, especially during these times," Sandoval said.

Where to Pick Up Bakescapade Goods:

Café Calaveras
860 Yesler Way, Seattle

El Artesano Cafe
401 4th Ave. N., Kent

Grumpy Bean for savory empanadas
Seattle Children's Research Institute Building, 910 Stewart St., Seattle
Westlake Tower lobby, 1601 5th Ave., Seattle

Big Bush Co.: A Mexipino (Mexican and Filipino) Take on Conchas 

Karina Arroyo and Rita Manalastas, founders of Big Bush Co., started their Mexipino baked-goods company in January as a cottage business out of their Des Moines, Washington, home. Their journey as bakery owners began last year when their dog had expensive veterinary bills. The couple paid down the expenses with a bake sale where Manalastas sold more than 100 loaves of banana bread. 

The two continued their baking exploration of Arroyo's Mexican heritage and Manalastas' Filipino roots by creating treats, like cochinitos (pig-shaped gingerbread pastries), calamansi muffins and ube muffins, and cultural mashups, like a concha with a crust flavored with Kopiko, Southeast Asian coffee candy. The two were recently featured as Emerging Makers Fellows in Residence at Anh Ơi Bakeshop. They participated in an AAP campaign earlier this year where they hosted a Latino food drive at pop-ups and offered free mini-conchas for anyone who contributed.

Arroyo says her father moved to the U.S. from Oaxaca several decades ago, and his family managed the only stone oven in the town where he grew up. He told her he'd "see people from their pueblo leading up to Dia de los Muertos baking pan de muerto in their family's stone oven throughout the day, so they could place the bread on their ofrendas at home," said Arroyo. "He passed away a couple of years ago, so he'll be part of my ofrenda this year. It feels really special to know that he was a baker, just like me."

Upcoming Big Bush Co. Pop-Ups

Nov. 14
Friend Museum
83 S. King St., #100
11 a.m.–4 p.m.

Nov. 21
Columbia City Night Market
4850 37th Ave. S.
6–10 p.m

Got an idea for a South End story you'd like to see us cover? Let me know: Yuko.Kodama@SeattleEmerald.org.