Between Two Crises: New York's Artisanal Food Startup Founders

Abstract

Food startups, small-scale artisanal food preparation enterprises, have proliferated in many global cities since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. In the United States, specialty food sales in 2019 had a 10.7 percent increase since 2017 (Specialty Food Association, 2020). In New York City, food manufacturing added 3,753 jobs or a 27 percent increase during the period between 2005 and 2015, providing opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurs (Center for an Urban Future, 2016; Evergreen, 2015; Schrock et al 2019). Mass layoffs in the 2008 economic crisis sped up the sector’s development, which provided a way for a diverse group of business founders including immigrants, expats, and recent college graduates to capitalize on their knowledge, skills, and networks. The current COVID-19 pandemic, a global public health crisis, has put a pause to this decade-long development, sheds lights on precarious conditions that food entrepreneurs face, and shows the important role that the city government plays in supporting this group.