How Women Entrepreneurs are making strides in the Food Industry? | Facedrive Foods
International Women’s Day is a celebratory day in the movement of women’s rights. Here at Facedrive Foods, we wanted to bring attention to women-led restaurants on our food delivery platform. We want to showcase the hard work and dedication these amazing women have put in as entrepreneurs in the food industry. We recently interviewed women-led restaurants in Toronto to learn more about their experiences and challenges in the food industry.
Jamaican Stamp located on 1053 Midland Ave, Scarborough is a takeout restaurant that serves a wide variety of Jamaican and Caribbean comfort foods. This restaurant is owned and operated by Diana Castillo and here is her experience in the industry. Being a woman in the food business industry Diana found that she had to work harder to be taken seriously. Diana noticed that any time a person would come into the restaurant that they would be more inclined to assume that a male was the owner of the restaurant and would approach them first to make business transactions rather than approaching her. In order to overcome these challenges, Diana has taken the initiative to step up and become more vocal and firm that she is the owner and is as qualified and capable as any male would be.
ZeeV’s Nutrition Studio located at 3614 Victoria Park Ave, North York currently serves a variety of healthy juices, smoothies, and teas. Zenia Wadia and her husband Vamshi own this restaurant. As a child, Zenia has been surrounded by independent women with their own businesses and grew up with the mentality that both men and women are equal. She drew inspiration from her mother who was a strong and independent woman; this inspiration fueled Zenia’s entrepreneurial spirit. ZeeV’s Nutrition Studio is dedicated to creating amazingly healthy and tasty juices, smoothies, and teas.
Burger Factory located on 41 Lebovic Ave unit A106, Scarborough is a franchise that serves an assortment of halal fresh burgers, fries, and funnel cakes. Farida is the current owner of the Burger Factory restaurant located on Lebovic avenue. Farida found many challenges when starting out in the food industry as it was unknown territory for her but with the support and guidance of the owner of this franchise who is also a woman and her other co-owners of different burger factories, she was able to overcome these challenges. Farida’s story shows the power of a strong support system and how women can be role models for each other.
Chick n Delish currently located on 1027 Markham Rd, Scarborough serves halal chicken and waffles alongside seafood, fried chicken, and much more. Nishi currently works at her family-run restaurant Chick n Delish. Nishi found that being a woman in the food industry is an overall amazing experience and is surrounded by many positive customers and people. Some advice that she would give to other women wanting to enter into this industry is to always be yourself and be true to who you are as the world will reward those who do good to others.
To help support and empower women, order food from these local, women-led restaurants on Facedrive Foods.
