Everytable Expands - Across California with Berkeley Opening and New Franchise Stores

A new Berkeley location opens expanding access of scratch-cooked meals to more consumers and businesses and three graduates of Everytable University — Laura Phillips, Rosenda Moreno, and Jennifer Lopez — are taking ownership of seven stores across California.

 

LOS ANGELES, May 22,2025– Everytable, the mission-driven company making scratch-cooked, nutritious food accessible to everyone, everywhere, is proud to announce its expansion into Northern California with the opening of a new location at 2305 Telegraph Ave in Berkeley — situated just steps from the UC Berkeley campus on a high-traffic pedestrian corridor. This marks Everytable’s first Northern California storefront and builds on the success of its college-based locations, including Compton College and Cal State LA, while also positioning the brand to better serve foodservice partners including schools, healthcare organizations, meals on wheels organizations, corporations and more in the region.

Alongside this geographic growth, Everytable is expanding social equity franchise ownership at several stores.  In April, Laura Phillips was awarded ownership of two Everytable locations and soon Rosenda Moreno and Jennifer Lopez will take over 5 other Everytable locations  — further advancing its mission to foster economic opportunity for entrepreneurs from underserved communities and to expand access to fresh, affordable meals statewide.

Franchise Program

Through its Social Equity Franchise program, Everytable addresses systemic barriers in the food industry by providing comprehensive training and support to individuals who have historically lacked access to capital and mentorship. Central to this program is Everytable University, a full-time, fully paid initiative that combines on-the-job training with executive business leadership coursework. Participants work as store managers while engaging in a year-long educational series covering business fundamentals, finance, marketing, and leadership. Upon successful completion, graduates have the opportunity to own and operate multiple Everytable storefronts via a mission-driven financing model that doesn’t require personal upfront capital.

The three new awardees include: Laura Phillips, who now owns the Everytable locations in Bellflower and Cypress; Rosenda Moreno, who will very soon take over the Compton and Pico Rivera locations and Jennifer Lopez, who will soon take ownership of Everytable’s San Diego region including the locations in Vista, El Cajon and La Jolla. This announcement will bring the total number of Social Equity Franchisees to five, with these three joining two other existing franchise owners, Susana Cabrera (Inglewood and Culver Sepulveda locations) and Alex Aguilar (Long Beach Bixby Knolls) who took ownership of their Everytable locations in 2024.

"Our Social Equity Franchise program is a cornerstone of our mission to create a more just and equitable food system and we are thrilled to celebrate these new franchisees and their latest accomplishment within the Everytable family," said Sam Polk, CEO of Everytable. "This program empowers individuals who are passionate about entrepreneurship not only to realize their dreams of business ownership but to bring accessible, nutritious food to their own communities. I’m incredibly inspired by the individuals who join us in this program. It’s not easy, but they really step up, and I’m eager to continue witnessing their success.”

Why It Matters to Our Franchisees

“Being a business owner was always in the back of my head, but I never really thought I could attain it. I’ve been a mom since I was a teenager in high school, so I’ve always had to work, and it’s been a financial struggle here and there. So I never really thought I would have the financial capability to own a business,” said new franchisee Laura Phillips. “Just knowing that I have done it and succeeded, I feel great about it. It means so much to me to help bring fresh, nutritious food to our community. There’s so many people in need and I think this model is such a game changer.” - Laura Phillips

“I think it’s exciting to bring fresh, scratch-cooked meals to the community — because no matter your background or income, everyone deserves access to nourishing food. So often we’re surrounded by fast food or unhealthy options. And while they might be convenient, they don’t always leave you feeling your best — physically or financially. That’s why it feels so empowering to offer something different: real meals that fuel you and are actually made with care.” - Jennifer Lopez

“This is an incredible opportunity — one that most companies don’t offer. Even if you don’t have the income to start something on your own, Everytable gives you the chance to build something meaningful with their support.” - Rosenda Moreno

Mission-driven Financing

Everytable partners with a mission-driven lender who provides low-interest, no personal guarantee loans to Everytable franchisees for purchasing storefronts. For Social Equity Franchisees, no upfront capital is required, and the loan is fully repaid through a portion of the store's profits. A portion of the potential profits from the franchised store operated by the franchisee will be used to pay off the loan for the start-up costs. Once the loan for start-up costs is paid off, the potential profits of the franchised store belong to the franchisee.

Videos from our Franchisees:

Some videos of the newest or soon to be Social Equity Franchisees can be found below: