Mexicatessen

Alejandro Monsivais is the founder and owner of Mexicatessen, a catering service that produces and distributes Mexican cuisine. Using his home recipe for Chorizo as his first product, Alejandro began servicing local restaurants and grocery stores. Today, Alejandro sells his products out of markets and stores across the city, including Kensington Market.

“When I went to ask for a bank loan for my business they just laughed. I am really, really thankful and grateful for ACCESS.”

Despite a background in the editorial industry in his native country of Mexico, Alejandro found it difficult to find work upon moving to Canada eight years ago. Having trained with a chef in Mexico, he knew he could convert his cooking skills and family recipes into a small business, but lacked the credit history to access traditional sources of financing.

Through a YMCA self-employment training course, Alejandro was introduced to ACCESS. Having developed his business plan as part of his coursework, he applied for and was granted an initial loan of $5,000 in 2009. In early 2011, Alejandro was approved for a second loan of $3,400, and was introduced to an ACCESS mentor to help him with cash flow planning and financial management.