Ana Torres

Owner, Organica Juice Bar

Food & Beverage | Montebello

Organica is the first organic juice bar in Montebello, a working-class, largely immigrant community. It serves fresh juices, smoothies, acai bowls and a small food menu, and runs wellness and education events with other local businesses. Its six employees come from the same community they serve. One long-term employee stepped up to lead, reworking the shop's recipes to standardize quality, cut costs and reduce waste.

“The cost of almonds almost doubled, but I couldn't raise my prices because my customers are working-class families. So I ate the cost. That's what these supply-chain hits do to a small shop. You absorb it until you can't.”

Over the past year the business has been squeezed from three directions at once. Costs came first. The raw organic ingredients the shop depends on, including almonds, strawberries and raspberries, are largely sourced from farms in Mexico, and prices climbed as supply chains tightened and enforcement disrupted farm labor upstream. The almonds the owner uses to make fresh almond milk went from $1.45 to $2.20, nearly double. Utility rates rose too after the regional fires. To keep healthy food affordable for a working-class neighborhood, the owner absorbed the increases instead of raising prices, which shrank already thin margins.

Then demand fell. Local raids kept residents home, and as foot traffic dropped, the owner watched neighboring small businesses close, three in a single week. Fear reached the staff directly. Employees mistook a passing utility truck for an enforcement vehicle and ran back inside. One employee stepped back from front-of-house work for a time, and another missed shifts to help family. With sales down and payroll fixed, the owner cut hours and closed on Sundays to keep the doors open.

“We're getting hit from every side at once. Customers aren't coming in, employees can't come in and the cost of everything is up. The damage isn't always visible, but financially it's still happening, and small businesses like mine are the ones feeling it.”

A single $2,000 small-business grant made a visible difference. It covered mandatory health-department facility upgrades and a replacement blender, letting the owner stay compliant and operating without taking on debt.