Markeshia Ricks
Mubarakah Ibrahim and new city Food Policy Director Latha Swamy at City Hall Monday.
A bean pie baker and other local micro-food businesses have some new rules that could help them grow their businesses.
That’s because the Board of Alders last week unanimously passed a text amendment ordinance that will reduce the cost of license fees for businesses that rent commercial kitchen space and reduce the need for multiple inspections for businesses that share their space.
The alders did that during their regular bi-monthly meeting at City Hall, while the baker who championed the cause, Mubarakah Ibrahim, CEO of Mmm Pies & Gourmet Desserts, watched in the Aldermanic Chamber.
For about a year Ibrahim has worked to change the way the city does business when it comes to micro food entrepreneurs like her who need commercial space to make their products but can’t afford to own it.
When Ibrahim sought to expand her business, she ran into barriers when she sought to rent space in a small bakery, discovering that she would have to pay an exorbitant amount for a license. Also, the health department required multiple inspections for whatever space she rented. (Read more about all of that here.) A small business like hers, making less than $250,000 a year, couldn’t afford that.
On Monday her efforts paid off. The ordinance amendment passed by alders reduces the annual fee for businesses like hers from one based on the size of the commercial kitchen to a flat fee of $75 a year. It also prorates that annual fee for micro food businesses that get started before May 1, when all New Haven food businesses have to pay their annual fee.
Morrison championed the ordinance change.
Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison, who championed the legislative change after Ibrahim pitched it to her, said she sees it as a “viable, entry-level pathway for aspiring food services entrepreneurs” by reducing licensing costs, streamlining the licensing process, and eliminating redundant inspections for restaurants already up-to-date on such requirements.
“Not only does it support entrepreneurs, but it also has great potential to grow jobs which is a major part of the Board of Alders legislative agenda,” she said. “We are the city that prides itself on diversity and this measure makes a food service business startup more accessible to all folks regardless of gender, race and income levels.”
Morrison said it also provides another revenue stream for restaurants and generates additional revenue for the city. New city Food System Policy Director Latha Swamy said it also will play a crucial role in a project that she’s working on that would co-locate a number of small food-related businesses in on space that will provide access to a large commercial kitchen.
Shortly after being hired, Swamy got to help Ibrahim get the amended ordinance across the finish line by tapping into her food policy council director network and delving into shared kitchen research. New Haven’s newly amended ordinance pulls from Chicago’s municipal ordinance that governs their shared kitchen program. She said working out the fee structure and the inspections process would be important as that project becomes a reality.
“This is essential for that,” she said of the new ordinance.
Ibrahim said she learned that the ordinance that she was bumping up against was written 40 years ago and that it was time for something that reflected the needs of businesses today.
“Businesses are evolving,” she said. “The economic needs are evolving.”
To listen to an interview with Ibrahim and Swamy on WNHH Radio, click on or download the above audio.