Farmers market opens door to new business owner

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on October 27, 2023.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Owner and operator of Antojitos Yeny Mora says the Lethbridge Farmers' Market played an important role in her ability to open up her restaurant.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge woman who recently opened her business in Festival Square went from being a long-time Lethbridge Farmers’ Market vendor to business owner.

 Colombian Canadian Lethbridge resident Yeny Mora recently opened Antojitos Latin Food Cravings in Downtown Lethbridge after taking part in the Lethbridge Farmers’ Market with her family for just over a decade.

 She told the Herald that with her Industrial Engineer background, she has always wanted to manufacture something, and what better way to do so than Latin-American food products.

 “We have been in Lethbridge for 13 years, we have always wanted to generate a Latin-American cuisine industry and we saw the opportunity when we realized there was limited options of Latin-American cuisine within the community,” said Mora.

 She said when they first started, they had a rough idea of what they wanted to do and even though they had limited funds, they had a strong desire to make it work.

 Mora said that while looking for ways to make themselves known within the community and get the opportunity to showcase their products, they decided to take part in the Lethbridge Farmers’ Market in 2012.

 “We are very grateful to the Lethbridge Farmers’ Market because we were always welcomed, they gave us the opportunity to showcase our products, educate the public not only about our product but a little bit about our culture and our beautiful Colombia,” said Mora.

 She said that for Latin-American people it is almost expected that others would like to try their delicious foods, but at the Farmers’ Market she realized many visitors were from a multitude of backgrounds and even though they were curious about her products, sometimes they were hesitant.

 “The first three years of taking part in the market I basically spent them educating people about our products, while people became more comfortable to try them out and I started to gain some recurrent visitors,” said Mora.

 She said being exposed to other cultures while taking part in the market, helped her and her family become familiar with the Lethbridge community and the different cultural backgrounds represented within the city.

 Mora said now her business allows her to offer not only her Colombian products, but also other Latin-American products that showcase other countries and their cultures, to be able to offer something familiar to a variety of customers from other Latin-American countries, while also exposing non-Latin Americans to delicious new flavours.

“The exposure we were able to obtain from the Farmers’ Market helped us feel like we are part of the community, and that in turn has helped us feel included, valued and that we belong to the Lethbridge community. It helped us feel like Lethbridge is our home,” said Mora.

 She said the Farmers’ Market was not only helpful to them from a business side, but also emotionally by helping them feel welcomed by the community.

 Lethbridge and District Exhibition CEO Mike Warkentin told the Herald many see the Farmers’ Market as a place to get their fresh vegetables on a Saturday morning, but what doesn’t get talked about enough is the actual economic opportunity that exists within the Farmers’ Market.

 “I think this is a really great example of what the Farmers Market can mean to our local economy, to our entrepreneurs, to our agri-food innovators that are out there, and I think this is a really great example of the system that we hope and believe that the farmers market can be,” said Warkentin.

 He said the Exhibition wants the Farmers Market to be that market test for people in Lethbridge and southern Alberta who already have that entrepreneurial spirit, who have an idea, whether it’s baking, or in this case cultural foods, they want the Farmers’ Market to be able to be that market test.

 “I think the Farmers’ Market is a perfect place to test your products. We have between 50,000 and 60,000 people a year who go to the Farmers Market on Saturdays, so it really is a great opportunity to engage with the community, and this is the perfect success story,” said Warkentin.

 Warkentin said they have seen success with local businesses springing up as a result of being involved in their shows on a smaller scale and they are very happy about providing that opportunity.

 “We couldn’t be happier for any of our vendors who do have the opportunity to go take a permanent home. We just hope that they’d still like to participate and still remember how important the Farmers Market was to their business success,” said Warkentin.

Follow @APulidoHerald on Twitter