Doreet is a San Jose based cook and operator of her business. Inspired by her Yemeni heritage and her mother's love for the kitchen, Doreet has funneled generations of home-cooked recipes into her meals. Doreet hopes to expand her client base and eventually expand operations such that others in San Jose can enjoy the uniqueness of her food.

Katharina was born in Germany and learned at a young age the process of preserving food in airtight containers - canning. She enjoyed this process and developed a love for cooking as well. Katharina dreamed of pursuing a degree in Culinary Arts; however, when Katharina wanted to follow this dream her mother convinced her it wasn't feasible. As a result, Katharina worked in the advertising field and eventually became an advertising executive. After leaving this position Katharina still felt connected to the dream of creating a food-related business.

Ashley grew up passionate about cooking, building community around food and sharing a part of her Puerto Rican heritage through food. A little over a year ago, after 5 years of working as a professional chef, Ashley gathered an informal online community of fellow food lovers. Her pop up food business, priced for broad accessibility, without sacrificing quality, taste and creativity emerged from that community.

Sisters Carly and Nicole left jobs in the visual design and fashion industries to turn a family tradition into a full-time business. Their fun yet sophisticated bakery turns out Italian classics with high quality, wellness-informed ingredients and a range of accompanying party-ready desserts and hand-painted custom orders. Now, they plan to scale their business as they add new corporate and wholesale accounts.

Megan's innovative business perfected an accessible, healthy version of a Mexican classic with a twist: Horchata Cold Brew. She is committed to sourcing ingredients from female farmers and producers from around the world and building a brilliant cadre of women to power the business. Megan drew on her background in product design and her cultural heritage to create her unique beverages.

When her mom passed away, Elizabeth was reluctant to start another family food business. However, over time, she built up her confidence, and saw that when she applied herself it went well and she received a lot of positive feedback. Her family is originally from Trinidad, Chinese-Indian and French White Spanish, and everything fuses into her cooking. The food is amazing (there aren't many restaurants that offer Trinidadian-Chinese food), and the service is great (they deliver to the 5 burrows).

Shawn and Justin's company started with a passion for foraging wild plants and fungi growing in our local environment. Mushrooms became an added ingredient in homemade teas, tinctures, and smoothies
Not soon after their discovery they both felt that mushrooms were something that needed to be shared with the world, but it had to be done the RIGHT way. They currently have a line of mushroom based supplements available in grocery stores, and are looking to sophisticate the look of their products.

As an Indonesian immigrant, Jennifer noticed the lack of Indonesian restaurants in the Bay Area and decided to make a change. With a background in hospitality work, she has been able to cook from home, care for her child, and serve the local community high quality Indonesian desserts. She enjoys cooking and plans to expand her business.

Dawna and Victoria run Sweets N Squeak, an energetic and imaginative specialty pepper jelly company. They offer jellies and chutneys with five different savory and spicy flavors. Dawna and Victoria opened the business as they were inspired to make homemade creations during the COVID-19 crisis.

In 2004, Krysta found a job at a local chocolate company in a moment of desperation. Having grown up in the restaurant industry, she knew the dedication required, but it was in this job that she discovered her love for chocolate specifically. After travelling to France, she fell in love with high-end chocolate. When another business venture fell through, she decided to go back to what she loves, and started Sugar Love. It started on Reddit, but due to increased demand she ultimately created her own website.