Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Perez.
Hi Lauren, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Hi, I’m Lauren! My husband Richard and I and our two young girls live in Oceanside. Together with my mom, Nina, we operate shared commercial kitchens in North County. We started small back in 2009 and grew organically to where we are today, 14 years later. All credit really goes to my mom Nina who dreamt up the concept and still helps run the business. She was looking to start a catering company and needed a place to do it. When she couldn’t find a place in the North County, she decided to open her own kitchen. She realized quickly there were many others in her position looking to operate a food business but needed an affordable way to do it. Thus, Sae Kitchen was born. A place where food entrepreneurs can start and grow a business without all the overhead costs of opening their own kitchen.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Like so many other small businesses, the pandemic presented challenges we had never navigated before. Since we’re considered food industry our kitchens never shut down, however, our business relies on small food businesses which were all but stopped for a period. Farmer’s markets were closed, weddings, private parties, and fairs were cancelled, so naturally, we experienced a decrease in business for much of 2020. When people did return to the kitchens, there was the struggle of making sure we were doing everything we could to keep our clients and the community safe.
Sae Kitchen not only supports our family, but it also provides a workplace for the families of so many food entrepreneurs in the county so we hurt for them too. It took several months to adapt and find our footing again. The county health department allowed for farmer’s market vendors to temporarily provide food for pick-up which was great. Many catering companies switched to a meal prep for delivery or pick-up model. People still needed to eat–we just needed to get creative about how to feed them while keeping our community safe. The struggle was there, but so were the silver linings. It was really cool to see not only entrepreneurs who were able to shift their model to make it work and stay in business but also those who went out on a limb and started brand-new food businesses and are still thriving today.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
So many people dream of running their own food business but are limited by the large overhead costs of opening their own licensed kitchen. Sae Kitchen is a licensed commercial rental kitchen that provides a simple, affordable, and efficient way to start and run a food business in San Diego.
We love that we can provide a space that allows people to be their own boss, to have the freedom to create what they want and to share their creations with the community. Some clients enjoy the benefits of staying with our kitchen rental for years and others that start and outgrow our kitchen, becoming established food brands in San Diego and beyond. Either way, we love that we can be part of their journey!
We want to continue to grow as well and are excited about some new projects in the pipeline, so stay tuned!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Podcasts we love:
-Business Made Simple with Donald Miller (and his book Building a Storybrand)
-Jenna Kutcher’s Goal Digger Podcast
-On Purpose with Jay Shetty as well as How I Built This with Guy Raz are so inspiring
-and Smartless cause those guys are just hilarious
It’s not an app, but we have to give a shoutout to our friends at The Food Corridor. It’s a shared kitchen management tool created specifically for food businesses that rent space at shared kitchens. There’s just no other platform that does what they do and we don’t know where we’d be without them!
Contact Info:
- Website: saekitchen.com
- Instagram: sae_kitchen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Saekitchen2
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sae-kitchen-san-marcos-2
Image Credits
Janelle Aloi Photography
