La Fondita Latina LLC is a small company that has been offering safe and healthy food in Fort Collins, CO since 2022. We obtained our “Good Standing” Certificate for food production and sales from the Secretary of State in 2023. We have the certificates required by the Larimer County Health Department for “Cottage Food,” “Food Handler Card,” and “Food Protection Manager.” We are selling our food in the markets of Winter (Foothills Mall ) and Summer (Larimer County Farmer’s Market ) of our city, at community events and to individuals.

Our Mission:

1. - To offer the general public food prepared in accordance with food safety regulations and hygiene practices to prevent foodborne illnesses.

2. - To prepare food based on traditional Mexican cuisine, combined with other typical Latin American dishes, such as tamales, sweet empanadas, cookies, burros, broths (pozole, menudo, beef, etc.), chiles rellenos, quesadillas, gorditas with various meats, vegan dishes, and Creole stews with Spanish influence.

3. - Our main goal is to offer our guests "Grandma's Food," as it is known in Mexico and other Latin American countries, preserving the authentic Mexican culinary tradition, one of the best in the world, completely healthy, regulated, and affordable.

Our Vision:

1. - To transform La Fondita Latina into a distributor of healthy, affordable food with franchise branches.

2. - Generate a positive impact in our community given our community-based background, empathy for the Cooperative Movement, and alignment with the so-called Economies of Care, which take into account social and emotional well-being, such as environmental protection and practices of mutual support and equity beyond financial profitability. Some examples include consuming minimally processed local products for our food, purchasing fresh local vegetables with organic fertilizer and compost, student discounts, promoting local art, supporting multicultural diversity, etc.

Current Situation and Challenges:

In 2023, we secured a lease for a space located very close to the CSU University Campus. This is an excellent location, but with significant investment required to rehabilitate the building. Our entire budget has been invested in updating the electrical, water, and drainage lines to city codes, remodeling walls, bathrooms, etc., and additional expenses such as paying for electricity, water, and gas, inspections by the Department of Health, the city, etc. As of this writing, we are still unable to open the business due to a lack of bank financing. We have decided to solicit donations from the local community and, in general, from any individual or legal entity that wants to contribute to making this venture possible.

The desired amount would be at least $25,000. With that, we would finish the first stage and we could start working on the second stage.