Latino Restaurant Association logo
By Ed Avis
The Latino Restaurant Association, a Los Angeles-based trade group founded in 2018, stepped up to help restaurants during COVID and has big growth plans for 2021.
“We hope to eventually be a national organization with chapters in different states, but now we are based in California,” notes Lilly Rocha, one of the group’s founders. Rocha also sits on the board of the Latino Food Industry Association and owns the Sabor Latino trade show. She says she helped found the LRA because the needs of restaurants differ from other food industry businesses.
“There are some needs in the Latino restaurant community that are unique to Latino restaurant owners and we wanted to address those needs and offer resources,” she says. “Since COVID we’ve seen a lot of what those needs are, and in response we’ve developed our programming for 2021.”
Rocha says one thing she noticed during COVID was that many Latino restaurant owners did not have robust web sites that could easily support takeout and delivery service, which hurt those restaurants’ ability to tap that revenue stream.
“Another issue was that Latino restaurant owners weren’t necessarily prepared with their business paperwork, and when they applied for the PPP loans, that was a problem,” she says. “Many also don’t have established relationships with banking professionals.”
In response to these issues, the LRA is sponsoring two sessions of a six-week “Business Boot Camp” to help restaurant owners improve their basic business skills. The virtual event, which will include 2-3 hours of instruction per week, will help owners create a business plan, prepare financial paperwork, learn social media basics, and develop other skills. Everything in the training program will be focused on restaurants. The first boot camp will be held in the spring and the second in the fall; registration will open in January.
COVID Activities
The LRA has managed three programs during COVID.
The Feedling Frontliners program, which was sponsored by Walmart, Socal Gas, and other organizations, provided 8,090 meals to individuals in the Los Angeles area. The meals were purchased from 27 Latino restaurants; each received an average of $4,655 in business from the program.
Dine Latino, which ran from September 29 to October 4, encouraged residents to eat out at Latino restaurants. The LRA promoted special deals being offered by 34 restaurants in Los Angeles. Rocha says the association plans to hold two Dine Latino events in 2021.
“We’re now doing 12 Days of Takeout,” Rocha says. “We’re encouraging the public to order takeout at least once a day in the 12 days leading up to Christmas.”
Latino restaurants with five or fewer locations can join the LRA for $99 per year; right now the association is offering two years for the price of one. Members can participate in all of the LRA’s programs, including the Boot Camps and the monthly social mixers. Corporate memberships are also available. For more information, visit https://latinorestaurantassociation.org/
Watch a video about the LRA Feeding Frontliners program here.