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We Just Hit TWO Milestones!


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MILESTONES ACHIEVED!

 

WOOOHOOO! We had a big week last week, having achieved two super important milestones.

 

First, the San Diego Department of Health has approved our food service plans for the 13th Street renovation! Thank you to Ryan Johnson and his team for their responsiveness and guidance in navigating this process.

 

Secondly, with the leadership of Carlos and Barb at Heleo Architecture, we've completed our 100% CD Set. Woot!!! I will say, it was a very challenging task, bringing together teams of engineers, regulatory stakeholders, and IZOLA-specific production requirements to create a great new guest experience. Check out the full set (all 107 pages) below - pay close attention, there'll be a test at the end of this! 😉


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The 100% CD set will be re-submitted to the San Diego Development Services Department (DSD) to satisfy their change requests, and also circulated to our General Contractor to shift the pre-construction process into high gear (and compress our renovation period as much as possible, I'm targeting a very aggressive 30-day construction window), and to the building ownership for final approval of our plans.

 

For the past several months we've been procuring materials and equipment in advance, as well as bids, so we can hit the ground running when construction begins. I've been working closely with our full team - our architect, food service consultant, MEP+S engineers, fabricators, suppliers and builders - to ensure our Construction Documents are accurate and detailed down to every plank, wire and screw.

 

Designing for IZOLA 13th Street is particularly challenging given its age - the 4th floor loft is very small, there is not a single flat spot in the roof of the loft or any "as built" plans. But now I know where every wire, pipe and vent in the space is and where all new equipment will go. The goal for all of this pre-work was to minimize the number of change orders (my goal is zero!) we'd encounter during renovation, which will save us both time and money.

 

Stay tuned for updates on construction and our reopening date!



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CROISSANT BAR 

 

As part of our renovation, we are planning a street level "croissant bar." We're still working on the regulatory permissions, but we think it will really help activate the block and public space, as well as just be a great spot to enjoy a croissant and cappuccino. It will also provide a faster in-and-out experience for pre-order pickups.

 

East Village Green, the 3.6 acre community park under construction across the street from IZOLA, is also due to be completed in 2025. It will be a vibrant addition to the neighborhood with a 2-story community center, off-leash dog park, children's playground, and much more, making our croissant bar a great stop for folks on their way to the park.

 

 We've also applied for a type 41 license (for beer and wine only). We're thinking it would be nice to have a glass of bubbly with a croissant! Our vision is a highly curated menu...think 4 items, like one super mineral-forward Sauvignon Blanc, one Central California Coast Red Zin, a Prosecco (TBD) and one Belgian beer like Leffe, Chimay or Duvel.

 

So much in the hopper for IZOLA in 2024!

 

THE RESOURCES WE RAISE THIS YEAR DETERMINE IZOLA'S IMPACT NEXT YEAR


GROWTH. JOBS. JUSTICE.

 

We are reaching out to our community to join us and become an owner in IZOLA through our equity raise. Learn more in the video below, or join us for our next Investor Conversation on Google Meet - this Tuesday at 4p. Our 3rd round rolling close ENDS THIS WEDNESDAY, so join us on the call and come with your questions!

 

We have $57,500 left to raise to hit our goal for this round. It's gonna be a big stretch, but we know it's possible!




NOW IS THE TIME


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Many of you know that we have been raising equity funds for the past year. We will be closing our 3rd round next Thursday, December 20th. For folks who have considered investing in IZOLA but haven't pulled the trigger yet, now is the time.


The resources we raise this year will determine the strength of IZOLA next year.


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Once you've made the decision to invest, investing is easy and takes only minutes. Just click the "Invest Now" button above, then hit the green "Invest" button on the website.

Questions? We will be hosting one last Investor Conversation before this round closes - join us on Tuesday December 19th at 4p PST on Google Meet




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OUR CONTAINER IS PACKED, WE'RE READY TO GO!

Our additional proofers and ovens are ready to leave Salva's manufacturing facilities in San Sebastian and are ready to head to the Long Beach port. The above graphic is the planned packing configuration for our container.

 

This equipment is part of the 13th Street renovation which will allow us to triple our baking capacity. We currently have no more room to store any additional product or the oven time to bake more product. So paired with the new walk-in freezer and cooler we will be installing, when we re-open we'll be able to make more croissants and sourdough - so we're selling out less often and we can expand our hours.

 

We inspected this equipment in person on our recent trip to Europe. It is not often that the customer themselves make a physical final inspection of the product, but for us, it was crucial. It saved us money in the long run and most importantly, time. Some of the things we're looking for are:

 

  • Confirm the electrical output is accurate (this has been a challenge in the past costing us both time and money). 

  • Our unique set of features are present (one was missing and they added it in same day - beats finding out Stateside and having parts shipped and figuring out how to install it ourselves!). 

  • The ovens fit U.S. sheet pan sizes and the custom shelf heights are accurate (another challenge we've faced previously, our croissants are much taller than standard and we made some slight adjustments in person). 

  • You don't know what you don't know...As we inspect in person, we are able to consider potential issues that we might not consider doing this remotely. For example, our proofers were sized to fit our rolling racks. But once we were in person looking at the proofer and seeing the entry point to the proofer, we realized we needed to check how far inset the wheels on our proofers are to make sure they could clear the proofer as they rotate. We discovered they wouldn't clear, and so we were able to create a solution proactively, rather than realizing this just as we're preparing to re-open and scurrying for a solution.





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HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA IZOLA


This Saturday would have been my grandmother Izola's 110th birthday. We all miss her so much, but she not only lives on in what we're creating here at IZOLA, but within each of the lives she touched. 

 

I named the bakery after her in honor of the impact she had on my upbringing. Growing up as a queer kid in a small farm town in the 1970s was challenging for me. I wouldn't be the person I am today without her choosing to do the hard thing and setting me straight when I needed it, being a north star, and showing me I was safe and loved.

 

I also wanted our bakery guests to be treated the way Grandma Izola treated everyone. Her door was always open - whether you were family, a friend or a stranger, she would welcome you in, serve you a hot cup of Folgers coffee and a slice of cherry pie paired with great fellowship.

 

Happy birthday Grams.




ON A ROLL


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The IZOLA Core team is on fire...we've added another 1 sourdough flavor and 3 croissant flavor approvals. We have 19 flavors that we're actively re-testing - many are taking about 3-4 iterations before we land on an approval or decide to add it to the cutting room floor.

 

So what is it that we're looking for when we're taste testing??

 

We eat with our eyes first! Is it beautiful? Food is art.

 

The texture also plays a huge role in overall experience. Does it provide a satisfying crispy crunch? There are some flavors where we're looking to add some QQ, some added chewiness. But sometimes chewiness just doesn't belong!

 

But of course, flavor is the ultimate guardrail. Do we get great flavor in each and every bite? Is the flavor complex, punchy, surprising...The experience should be unique from start to finish. Do we feel JOY when we take that first bite? Is this something that we'll want to eat more of, or we'll think about when we're done? If we answer yes to these questions, we're encouraged to keep pushing on.

 

Behind the scenes it takes a lot of coordination for our 3 team members to execute about 20+ bake tests a week. They work with Jeff, our amazing AGM, on Fridays to set the schedule for the week ahead. Detailed grocery shopping lists are compiled - from finding the most "coconutty" coconut milk on the market, to sourcing a drier feta that doesn't melt into our sourdough loaves, to testing frozen mango against fresh to see which holds up and tastes the best (frozen won!). Our entire team is up and running on Asana, a project management tool, where they can view the priority levels we've set, the schedule for the week, and it puts historical data and notes on each test we've run at all of our fingertips. It is so dynamic we were able to provide direction remotely while we were traveling too.

 

I know I say this every week, but we totally cannot wait to invite you back to IZOLA when we re-open because these flavors the team is developing truly rock. So immensely proud of the work they're doing here....




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WOOO!!

 

This is fun news! IZOLA was named the #5 most popular bakery on TikTok. We are in some really amazing company...thank you everyone for sharing the IZOLA love on TikTok!


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WELCOME TO THE TEAM!


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Please welcome to the team, our newest team member, Jennifer Chen. 😉

I kid - Jenny was employee #2, and has been building IZOLA alongside me. But I am super stoked to announce that Jenny officially left her other full time job last week so that she can fully focus on IZOLA. She's been juggling two jobs for the past 3+ years, working 90 hour weeks, and now she gets to still work 90 hour weeks!


We've been considering this change for a little while now, but with our closure, we felt it was the right time to accelerate the transition. It might seem counterintuitive, but we want to ensure that we leverage this closure to the fullest extent - we've rolled out a new workforce management system to better serve our team, we'll be creating and launching learning modules to help scale the IZOLA culture and help our teams feel fully equipped to do their jobs well, and we're better documenting our processes. For IZOLA Main, we're building out manufacturing and tracking systems for our new production processes, and working to improve our online ordering experience.





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Did you know that you can become an investor and join us on this crazywonderfulscaryfunhumanexhilarating journey called IZOLA? We aim to change the way America thinks about croissants and sourdough. The IZOLA way. Hot from the oven, great hospitality, amazing quality. Justice. And we are building the infrastructure to do that. Building the factory of the future. Creating careers. Improving the quality of our bread and croissants. Planning to open 12 IZOLAs in SoCal. Hard? Yes. But so exciting to invest in American manufacturing, in our community.

Believe in what we do? Join us.

 

Want to talk about it face to face with us? Yay! Jenny and I are hosting a conversation this Saturday, December 9th at 9a via Google meet. RSVP and drop by for a minute and say hi or stay the whole time. It's a fun time and super casual. We'll share with you where we've been, our plans for the future, and why we are raising over $3M in the next year.

 

Never invested before? Not to worry! It's super simple.

 

*Please only invest an amount you would feel comfortable losing. Investing in private businesses involves risk. Though potential returns are designed to reflect that risk, there is a possibility that you will lose your entire investment.






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