Lessons from Women Food Entrepreneurs – At La Marqueta

A passionate candy-maker and mom, Laurie Pauker started Laurie & Sons to provide Not-too-Sweet Snacks with a Touch of Surprise.

Laurie recently started producing at her new kitchen in La Marqueta – an incubator, market and business development resource in East Harlem that the Economic Development Center helped spearhead.

Pipcorn – with mini non-GMO popcorn (whole grain, small batch) also has their kitchen next door to Laurie & Sons. Their key issue? Supply!

Key advice from Laurie’s journey to a larger production facility?

Plan ahead. Hire experts to save time and future fix-it costs.

Consider using a professional kitchen design firm to lay out your space. While expensive, it’s more expensive if you have to spend additional time reconfiguring after you realize you’ve made a mistake.

Be creative. Think out of the box.

Instead of paying for expensive plumbing work, Laurie bought a cheap length of hose to extend the reach from her sink to be able to cool her equipment, It saved a lot of money and has had good results!

Look for support. Partner!

Laurie shares her space with another food entrepreneur, Catherine Oddenino of Luca and Bosco Ice Cream. They split the rent and share some equipment – while also getting moral support and advice.