La Reina Boricua food on hold as Akron business works on getting licensing

The sale of Puerto Rican food from La Reina Boricua of Akron is on hold until owners Monica and Julio Berrios work out licensing requirements.

That means the empanadas and desserts that La Reina Boricua was providing for the CAK Cafe to sell at the Akron-Canton Airport have been pulled. The Berrioses are also currently unable to cook food to sell for their Akron-based delivery business.

Since September, the couple had been providing frozen empanadas to the CAK Cafe to fry and sell to airport customers, as well as individually packaged cheesecake and bread pudding desserts.

The Berrioses said they were cooking out of their Akron home as well as at Wingfoot Church in Akron. The church has a commercial kitchen that is not licensed, according to Summit County Public Health officials.

Both United Concessions Group (UCG), which serves the Akron-Canton Airport, and the Berrioses received emails from Summit County Public Health Nov. 18 about halting the sale of La Reina Boricua food.

Environmental Health Supervisor Desaree Masters of the county's food safety division alerted UCG that it was receiving food from an unapproved food source and that food from La Reina Boricua cannot be sold at the airport.

'We want to help them continue to go'

Now, UCG and the airport are discussing the possibility of having La Reina Boricua operate under its food service operation license, which would require preparing all of the food for the airport in one of its kitchens.

Under the airport's previous arrangement with La Reina Boricua, the Berrioses also would have had licensing requirements from the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) because La Reina Boricua was selling its food to UCG rather than directly to end consumers at the airport. A spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Agriculture said Monday that the department has made contact with the Berrioses and is working with them to determine their needs.

But if Akron-Canton Airport agrees to have La Reina Boricua operate under its Summit County license and prepare food in one of its kitchens in the future, the Berrioses can resume selling at the airport with no additional requirements, said Ryan Pruett, a supervisor in the food safety division at Summit County Public Health.

UCG has said that it's interested in helping out La Reina Boricua, a new, minority-owned business that came on board as part of Akron-Canton Airport's business catalyst program. Monica Berrios is from Puerto Rico and Julio is of Puerto Rican descent.

More:Square Scullery dishes delectable, creative fare in Highland Square | Local Flavor

Spencer Shaw, executive vice president of United Concessions Group, said UCG started working with the Berrioses Nov. 18 to find a solution for the licensing issue.

"We're going to do everything we can within reasonable limits to ensure that Monica and Julio get the license they need for their business, whether it's with us or without us. We brought them into this and we want to help them continue to go," he said by phone last week.

"We could continue to sell their product if they produce their product in our airport," said Shaw, who indicated that the likelihood of that happening was high.

In that case, UCG would be required to get most of the ingredients for La Reina Boricua's Puerto Rican food through an approved wholesaler.

Shaw told Summit County Public Health by email Nov. 18 that the Berrioses originally provided documentation to UCG that they were producing their product in a commercial kitchen.

"Our i's were dotted and our t's were crossed. There was a lapse in this commercial kitchen, what's a processor's license," said Shaw, referring to a type of ODA license the Berrioses may be required to get. "At the end of the day we should have called Summit County and double checked. Thankfully, nobody got hurt."

He said that in late August, Monica Berrios cooked a large first batch at the airport of more than 100 empanadas to freeze and that CAK Cafe has since "probably sold less than 10 empanadas that were produced outside the airport."

More:Catch traditional holiday favorites, more with festive Akron-area performances

Julio Berrios said last week that the couple had been unaware of county or state food licensing requirements.

County license requirement

In order for La Reina Boricua to sell its food via its delivery service from a kitchen such as Wingfoot Church's, the kitchen must have a county food service operation license, starting with a plan review that costs $425. That would be followed by plan approval or disapproval and a pre-licensing inspection before a commercial food service license is granted.

According to Pruett, the county licensing process can take weeks or months.

Jon Ashley, pastor at Wingfoot Church, said the Berrioses, who are new church members, had cooked at the church a couple times for church events.

Wingfoot Church is in the process of starting a community development organization, which would include a licensed kitchen to help people such as the Berrioses with their business.

More:'Not all elves and Santa:' Drama therapy program on suicide aims to help during holidays

A board is now being formed for the organization that will be based at the church, whose building is called The Heights Center. Plans include exploring kitchen licensing requirements, including needed equipment upgrades.

Investment in the project will require some fundraising, Ashley said.

He was meeting with a city representative to talk about the kitchen's grease trap needs this week and will have a visit from Summit County Public Health Monday to assess the space.

The goal is to offer a licensed commercial kitchen that food entrepreneurs can work in, similar to the Akron Food Works program at the Well CDC in Akron's Middlebury neighborhood, which rents its shared-use commercial kitchen.

"We're definitely looking into it," Ashley said of licensing the church kitchen. "Our goal is to get that functional."

"I love Monica and Julio so we're definitely open to having them use the space as they need to," he said. "My question is just what do we need to get there and then what's the dollar sign with that?"

In the meantime, Ashley said he pointed the Berrioses toward the Akron Food Works program.

Akron businessman Tim Dimoff, a former Akron detective who owns SACS Consulting, is helping the couple navigate their licensing needs and has offered financial assistance to both the couple and Wingfoot Church for kitchen renovations through his company's Silent Angel Program. He met the Berrioses when Monica was running a clothing center at Goodyear Heights Baptist Church.

"They're just a very strong, hard work-ethic couple just trying to overcome challenges of trying to live and exist and be successful," Dimoff said.

Another possibility would be for the Berrioses to cook for their outside food delivery from the licensed airport kitchen. UCG has not investigated that option yet but Shaw said it's not off the table.

He said UCG and the Berrioses are planning to discuss more details with the help of a translator this week.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: La Reina Boricua Puerto Rican food sales on hold at airport, elsewhere