In the past decade, interest in La Cocina’s incubation model has grown, with organizations worldwide seeking our expertise. Our consulting services are designed to meet each client’s unique needs, offering guidance in food industry insights, program feasibility, kitchen design, and curriculum implementation.
Though based in San Francisco, we’ve worked with over a dozen global organizations. We believe social change must be community-centered, and we share best practices to guide others in supporting local entrepreneurs by deeply listening to and serving their communities.
“La Cocina is the North Star of mission-driven food incubator programs. We are an organization making real, significant change for the better, in no small part because of La Cocina.”
Consulting Services
The resources and advice we share are built from 20 years of hands-on experience and countless hours of feedback from the entrepreneurs we’ve worked with. Our goal is simple: teach others to do this important work more efficiently and effectively, while avoiding the many challenges we’ve learned from along the way.
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Supporting organizations in evaluating the potential success of an incubator program in their community, ensuring alignment with local needs and resources.
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We work with organizations to design incubator programs from scratch or refine existing ones. La Cocina’s curriculum designed around 5 pillars as a 4-month period of classes, ensuring entrepreneurs receive technical assistance in marketing, operations, product development, finance, and sales. We can mentor you to develop a similar curriculum that is tailored to your mission and your community.
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Looking to build a shared commercial kitchen? La Cocina can help advise you on best practices that have worked for our organization around space and facility planning and building of a functional, efficient and effective commercial kitchen.
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We provide organizations with guidance, resources, templates, and contracts that support the managing of day-to-day operations, including staffing, maintenance, and programming.
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La Cocina has developed workshops and a Learning Circle model taught by staff, graduates, and industry experts that support entrepreneurs’ business skills, scaling, and sustainability via collaborative learning environments.
“We see our consulting work as critical to creating a movement where entrepreneurs are the catalysts to community development and building a vibrant and inclusive food ecosystem and economy.”
Our Approach
La Cocina’s approach has always been about addressing the racial and gender wealth gap through thoughtful, practical support. Along the way, we’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of businesses.
La Cocina entrepreneurs have won industry awards, media accolades, and appeared consistently on top restaurant lists for their amazing food. They've also created jobs, built assets for themselves and their families, shaped local economies, transformed inequitable industry practices, and created communities that are joyful, connected, and nourished.
More than 80% of graduate businesses born out of our program between 2005-2019 remain active.
“La Cocina has been an invaluable partner. Their guidance and expertise have helped us navigate complex challenges, allowing us to grow and refine our business with confidence. The team’s deep knowledge, passion, and commitment to supporting entrepreneurs is unmatched.”
FAQ
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Our services are tailored to meet the unique needs of each client, and we adapt our approach based on your goals and vision. Generally, our one-on-one consulting is approximately $200 per hour. For larger projects, budgets range as follows: $5,000 to $10,000 for our starter package, $15,000 to $25,000 for a more in-depth engagement, and $70,000+ for a full-scale incubator project, including end-to-end planning and implementation.
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As a nonprofit ourselves, we focus on keeping costs accessible while covering essential operational expenses to sustain our mission. We’re glad to help you explore fundraising options for consulting services and can provide grant proposal copy to support these efforts.
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La Cocina Consulting aligns with our commitment to equity and our values of creating opportunity and supporting our community. We prioritize partnerships with organizations serving historically under-resourced communities, sharing our dedication to creating lasting impact.
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Every project with La Cocina is custom-tailored to your timeline and objectives, whether it’s a quick engagement over a few months or a longer-term initiative spanning up to a year. Our focus is to provide you with sustainable, high-quality solutions that integrate seamlessly with your mission.
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Absolutely! We welcome clients for in-person visits at our facilities or are happy to visit your location. Please complete our inquiry form to coordinate a visit.
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At La Cocina, we believe the most effective initiatives are deeply rooted in the communities that they serve. Rather than expanding our own locations to other cities, we’re passionate about equipping local leaders with the skills and resources to create incubators that reflect and serve the unique needs of their communities.
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Support from funders is vital for our continued work, especially as we help build capacity for organizations, advocate for under-resourced communities, and provide consulting services to those that need it most. If you’re interested in partnering with us, please reach out to Michelle Magat at magat@lacocinasf.org.
