The Family Cake-A great story to share and learn from it! Tomás Ávila It has been a wild ride for The Family Cake, LLC, a business that started in, Olneyville, Providence, Rhode Island in the home of Juan and Wendy Lantigua in 2014. In the Lantigua family’s kitchen, The Family Cake, LLC, was created and continues to be owned and operated by the Lantigua family. They are known for their divine tropical Latino flavored cakes for all occasions imaginable. Juan and Wendy Lantigua have worked incredibly hard to make their dream into a reality. They have maximized their sales by adapting two different distribution models to their business. The Family Cake sells their products to wholesale distributors, being sold in grocery stores throughout New England. They also have their new store front on Manton Avenue in Providence where they customize cakes tailored to the customers’ requests with beautiful detailed hand-crafted designs. The Family Cake LLC, prides themselves on their quality of their cakes, baking them fresh every single day and using only the freshest and finest ingredients. The Family Cake’s journey begins with Juan Lantigua’s determination to learn and grow to create a successful family business. In September 2014, Juan Lantigua’ s tenacious attitude led him to enroll in the 12-week business planning program “Exito Empresarial” offered by the Milenio Latino Institute, Inc. at Providence College Smith Center Annex, both directed and facilitated by Tomas Avila. When asked to share his goals during the introduction of the class “to improve managing my business, increasing sales, learning as much as I can to grow the business, and to be connected with business relate resources” Lantigua said. After graduating the program Lantigua took on all administrative duties of the business, while his wife and daughter took a confectionery bakery program in New York to perfect their cake decorating skills.
Fast forward to December of 2016, the Rhode Island Department of Health food inspector had left a message for Juan Lantigua with one of The Family Cake’ s grocery store distributors. Lantigua was informed that The Family Cake was in violation of the state’s food manufacturing regulations. Lantigua in complete shock contacted Tomas Avila looking for guidance to fix the problem as quickly as possible. Juan Lantigua and Tomas Avila knew that a violation could be detrimental to the business and force The Family Cake to close its doors. Avila arrived at the Lantigua home and production facility of The Family Cake, LLC., Avila took many pictures and notes of the facility to document his visit. Avila assembled quite the dream team to assist the Lantigua family and shared the documents of his visit to assist the small business by correcting the violations and abiding by all the tedious regulations implemented by the state. Avila sent out an email to Gabe Amo and Jason Natareno of the Governor’s Office, Councilwoman Sabina Matos, Doris Blanchard with Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, and Angel Subervi from Mayor Elorza’s Office, seeking support for Juan Lantigua and The Family Cake, LLC. Stating how the business has tripled their revenue in the about three years and complied with all the Health Departments food regulations. Within minutes of delivering the email seeking assistance and support Avila received a response from Jason Natareno, Sabina Matos who contacted the Providence Department of Inspections. Doris Blanchard emailed Tomas Avila back and then took it upon herself to personally meet with Avila to further discuss The Family Cake situation. After their discussion Doris realized this was a direct problem with the Department of Health and with the permission of Avila she contacted Mr. Lantigua directly. Doris then contacted the Department of Health to review and resolve the issues The Family Cake was facing. The plan was in place to help Lantigua save “The Family Cake” a microbusiness and while dodging any speed bumps in production, obtain the missing food manufacturing license and keep The Family Cake on the path to success. Doris found a location that The Family Cake could relocate to that was already fully licensed and approved by the Department of Health which is just what the business was in desperate need of, not only to fulfill their demand but, to keep The Family Cake in business altogether. To their dismay the
location did not work out, but Blanchard contacted Hope & Main in Warren, Rhode Island, an incubation program that gives food businesses a low-risk opportunity to test, scale and develop without liability in equipping, managing and maintaining their own commercial facility. It was the perfect fit for The Family Cake and with the help of Doris Blanchard they successfully jumped through many hoops to achieve their goals. Councilwoman Sabina Matos also assisted The Family Cake and introduced Lantigua to One Neighborhood Builders which led to a secure small business loan from the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation and Community Investment Corporation. They accepted the loan to finance the businesses storefront in their family neighborhood Olneyville, where The Family Cake, LLC., was born. With the new storefront, expanded manufacturing, The Family Cake’s goal is to be the go-to bakery for tropically flavored cakes with their distribution throughout the Northeast and most importantly their great attention to quality cakes and decorative details. Having been involved with economic and business development in Rhode Island for a quarter of thecentury and having witnessed many similar businesses destroyed due to similar experiences that The Family Cake experienced without the help of Doris Blanchard’s extraordinary diligence and passion for supporting and assisting small businesses. The Family Cake would have been another statistic of closed small businesses, but instead, it has turned into a success story being highlighted by Governor Gina Raimondo, and all agencies involved. Juan Lantigua took it upon himself to ensure that his family business, The Family Cake, would not fail, he reached out for help and was guided by the economic development programs and allies of the state to become a successful Rhode Island business with a beautiful storefront on Manton Avenue in Providence.