| When Claudia Luz Suarez and Javi Torres met working at a café together, they discovered their shared passion for all things coffee. But as migrant women, they did not see themselves reflected in the dominant coffee culture, which tends to skew white, male, and elitist, in an industry that is often plagued with low wages, long hours, and hard physical labor.
As a response, they founded Café con Cariño, a coffee project reflecting their Latin American heritages and shared values of joy, pleasure, and community care. “We are fancy, but we’re also cute, fun, and playful,” says Claudia. “You won’t walk away not realizing that we’re Chilean and Salvadorian and Mexican because our culture is infused in every flavor that we bring to the table.”
You can now find Café con Cariño popping up at Foodwise’s Mission Community Market alongside other immigrant and BIPOC entrepreneurs as part of a new collaboration with the food business incubator program Oakland Bloom. | 