Our bellies are full and happy after having just had our last taste test of the year...And now Jenny and I are winding down as we get ready to spend a few days with family over the holidays.
It is a very different holiday season for us this year. Normally we would have a Christmas tree decorated at the bakeshop and we'd be gearing up for a holiday party with the team for some fellowship. I loved serving hot wassail to guests and encouraging them to join me in singing the Wassail song.
This year we are still surrounded by an amazing team and accomplishing some really exciting things, but it's a quieter holiday season here at the bakeshop...We are so appreciative of the IZOLA Core team and the hard work they've been investing into IZOLA. Thank you Jeff, Lidia, Jesus, Lane and Alejandra.
And to the entire IZOLA Family, we wish you a very happy holiday season. We hope it's filled with lots of love and great fellowship!
RENOVATION UPDATES
With our plans finalized, we're kicking it into high gear to get the renovation started in January. We had about 15-20 subcontractors come to walk through the project. Once construction begins, we'll be running 6 days a week, 10 hours a day to reopen as soon as possible.
Our project manager, Alejandra, has been on the phone and email non-stop working on obtaining estimates, contracts, scheduling tests and walkthroughs. This week she organized a test on a possible high-temp dishwashing machine.
If you've dined in the bakeshop before, you might have noticed that most everything we serve you with is reusable. As part of our environmental justice mission the only item that is thrown away is a small sheet of parchment paper that we line our serving trays with. We wash a thousand dishes BY HAND each day. Adding a new dishwashing machine during this reno is going to allow us to work much more productively while still staying true to our environmental justice goals.
Thank you to customers Muna and Omar! They read about our testing with za'atar and came by to offer a tasting of the za'atar they bring back whenever they travel to Palestine. Here you can see a comparison of the za'atar we were using against theirs. Not only is the color richer, but the mouthfeel and flavor were on a whole other level! Yum!
OVER 500 INVESTORS!
Round 3 of our Equity Raise ended on a high note on Wednesday - we now have over 500 investors and owners of IZOLA. This truly has been a community effort and we are so grateful for the faith the IZOLA fam has placed in us...thank you for joining us on this journey!
We did come up $33k shy of our goal - and so onto Round 4! Round 4 will be the last round in this current equity raise, ending February 29th, 2024. Once this raise closes we'll be re-assessing the offering and also re-certifying with the SEC for a new round.
To renovate 13th Street and bring the kitchen up to commercial standards will cost over $300k alone.
IZOLA Main, our planned zero-emission dough factory in City Heights, will allow us to expand our production capacity by 20x, increase efficiency, improve food quality, create high-quality job opportunities, and empower us to open distribution channels throughout Southern California. It's a bold vision that requires $6M+ in capital to bring it to life and maximize the value to our community for decades. Learn more about our plans at our next online IZOLA Investor Conversation on January 3rd at 7p PST.
THE RESOURCES WE RAISE THIS YEAR WILL DETERMINE IZOLA'S IMPACT NEXT YEAR.
GROWTH. JOBS. JUSTICE.
*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.