Margarita Womack Named To 2023 Nosh Notables List!

Let’s make some noise for Union Kitchen Accelerator Member Margarita Womack! The founder of Maspanadas was named to the 2023 Nosh Notables List. In the article, Margarita tells the story of how she was able to turn her childhood love of empanadas into a national brand through her hard work and the support of the Union Kitchen Accelerator program! With this achievement, Margarita joins the rank of notable, influential people in the DC food space. 

Margarita Womack's empanada journey began in her native Colombia. There, she grew up surrounded by these delectable pastries, rich in the flavors of her heritage. Following her biology PhD from Princeton and business MBA from Georgetown, Margarita moved to the District. There, she noticed the lack of authentic Colombian empanadas. Being the burgeoning entrepreneur she was, Margarita saw an opportunity to introduce the local community to the magic of empanadas through her idea of MasPanadas. This spark led Margarita to join our shared kitchen with the vision of building a catering company. From there, Margarita would pivot with the help of the Union Kitchen team to the world of CPGs.

During her time in our ecosystem, Margarita managed to hone her manufacturing skills, developed her product formulation, and learned how to scale production. She took this knowledge and opened not one, but two of her own facilities. Plus, because she owned the manufacturing from the beginning, she was able to be the master of her own process. In time, this led to her turning stronger margins and achieving  profitability faster than most.

Of course, a successful start is one thing, building to last is quite another. For this reason, Union Kitchen helped Margarita follow a phased approach to growth. First, she focused locally, then regionally, then nationally.  By doing this, MasPanadas was able to establish a loyal customer base and refine its brand before reaching national recognition. This approach not only ensured steady growth but also nurtured a sense of pride in the local food culture.

Eventually, the dedication and hard work of the MasPanadas team would get noticed. This brings us to the present when Margarita Womack was named to the prestigious Nosh Notables list for 2023. Now a solidified powerhouse entrepreneur, Margarita serves a shining example of what's possible and another Union Kitchen success story. Congratulations Margarita!

Check out the full article and read more about Margarita, here!