{"id":27552,"date":"2021-12-03T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T17:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000023596"},"modified":"2021-12-03T14:48:25","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T22:48:25","slug":"everytable-a-food-business-with-a-social-justice-mission-comes-to-east-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/news\/everytable-a-food-business-with-a-social-justice-mission-comes-to-east-long-beach","title":{"rendered":"Everytable, a food business with a social justice mission, comes to East Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Jazmin Figueroa rings up a customer at Everytable in East Long Beach Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. Figueroa has worked for the company for six months. Photo by Brandon Richardson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I learned a food business with a mission of furthering social justice had opened up in the Aero Long Beach business park just south of the airport, I was intrigued.<\/p>\n

Everytable\u2014a company that was founded in 2015 with the goal of making healthy food cheaper and more accessible for underserved communities\u2014entered the Long Beach market earlier this year, when it opened up in the East Long Beach office district.<\/p>\n

It seemed to me an odd choice, given the area\u2019s relative affluence compared to other parts of Long Beach. But it turns out that it\u2019s all part of Everytable\u2019s business model: The company chooses locations in both low-income and high-income areas and prices its grab-and-go food\u2014meals are not made on-site\u2014differently based on the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Just in Long Beach, for example, the company also has plans to open up in Central Long Beach in February and in Downtown Long Beach the following month.<\/p>\n

No matter the market, though, Bryce Fluellen, the executive director of social equity franchising for the company, told me it\u2019s a priority of the company is for its food to be affordable. An order of carnitas tacos at the Compton location, for example, costs $6.10, while that same meal costs $8.35 at the East Long Beach store.<\/p>\n

And it is, actually, all the same food. Everytable uses the grab-and-go model to cut down on costs; the company has a 30,000-square-foot central kitchen in Vernon, where all of its food is made fresh and delivered to Everytable\u2019s 11 stores across LA County each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe control the production of our food under one house, in a central commissary,\u201d Fluellen told me, \u201cwhich allows us: 1) To be controlling the product, but also 2) To be more efficient and pass on that savings of efficiency and cost to that consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Everytable’s line of probiotic smoothies at its newest location in East Long Beach Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Everytable\u2019s pursuit of social justice goes beyond how it serves customers. The company also has its own program\u2014the Social Equity Franchise program that Fluellen leads\u2014that gives employees the opportunity to access management training and capital to eventually own and operate their own Everytable franchise.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Everytable, our mission really is about inequality,\u201d Fluellen said, \u201cso looking at that, we said, \u2018Wouldn’t it be great to create a franchise system that put ownership in the hands of entrepreneurs of color who don’t have access to traditional capital or the mentorship and training that’s needed?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So Everytable University was born. In the full-time, fully paid program, workers manage a store while taking courses in business, finance, marketing and leadership. Folks who complete the program may then be eligible for low-interest loans to own their own franchise, which don\u2019t need to be repaid until the location turns a profit.<\/p>\n

Everytable has partnerships with charitable organizations like the Kellogg Foundation that provide the capital to build out locations that will eventually become franchises; it\u2019s those partnerships that make the generous franchise terms for Everytable University graduates possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about getting people to economic mobility, ownership and hopefully wealth through this franchise model,\u201d Fluellen said.<\/p>\n

The program, though, is still in its infancy.<\/p>\n

Six people are currently enrolled, including Maria Martinez, who manages the company\u2019s Monterey Park store. The 34-year-old Compton resident was working graveyard shifts as an IHOP server three years ago when she first applied with Everytable.<\/p>\n

Martinez has been with the company ever since and began taking classes with Everytable University early this summer. She told me the program lives up to its name.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m back at school,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been eye-opening. Now I know why people use calendars and agendas to write down things, because it\u2019s hard to juggle it if you\u2019re not used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Gracie Barrera, 34, browses the food selection at Everytable in East Long Beach Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still, she said she\u2019s felt supported by Everytable staff\u2014and that the rigor of the program is preparing her to eventually own her own store.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I applied, I wasn\u2019t sure if I was qualified for it,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure if I had the experience for it. But they\u2019ve been guiding me through it, and now the training experience I’m getting, going to different stores\u2014I feel like I’m not ready yet, but I’m on the right path.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whenever Martinez does complete the program and is eligible for her own store, there will likely be an even wider availability of locations for her and other folks who have gone through the program.<\/p>\n

Everytable is looking to expand\u2014and to do it quickly. By the end of 2021, Fluellen told me, the company is slated to open another 14 Southern California locations. And another 40-50, including the two new Long Beach sites, are in the pipeline for next year.<\/p>\n

And of course, the company will need more people to manage\u2014and own\u2014those new stores.<\/p>\n

At the end of our conversation, Fluellen told me that the point he really wanted to hammer home is that Everytable is actively recruiting.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of this happens without people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Martinez, for her part, was similarly encouraging.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven for people that want to try to just apply and see, I would say just apply, honestly,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don’t know until you try, and that’s one thing that has always scared me: What if I try and I fail?\u201d<\/p>\n

But ultimately, she said, \u201cI think that if I wouldn’t have done it, I would have regretted it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would totally advise anybody that wants to do it,\u201d Martinez added, \u201cto just go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everytable\u2019s East Long Beach location is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information on the company or Everytable University, visit <\/i>everytable.com<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The company chooses locations in both low-income and high-income areas and prices its food differently based on the neighborhood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":71825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30481,31961,2002],"tags":[854],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[31959],"class_list":["post-27552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-millennial-pulse","category-news","tag-business","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27552"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=27552"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=27552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}