Merchant Maverick Opportunity Grant winner Huijuan Guo’s food truck, MOMO noodle, is famous for Bàn Miàn, a spicy dry-stirred noodle dish. Recently, we sat down with Huijuan to hear more about her inspiration and dreams for MOMO noodle.

Owner Jinah Kim has three passions: food, community engagement, and immigrant empowerment! Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen, located in upstate New York, offers up a farm-to-table dining experience. In addition to their exceptional Korean cuisine, Sunhee’s also has a Kimchi Klub, sending regional fare and seasonal kimchi flavors nationwide.

Merchant Maverick Opportunity Grant winner Jacqueline Nguyen owns Cafe Cà Phê, a unique mobile Vietnamese coffee shop, which serves up specialty drinks, including classic Vietnamese iced coffee. In June, we sat down with Jacqueline to talk about her vision for Cafe Cà Phê and how it all got started.

This year, the Merchant Maverick Opportunity Grant Program gave a total of $100K to Americans of Asian and Pacific Island descent, via 10 separate grants of $10K each. One of these grants was awarded to Folk, a gourmet Market and Cafe housed in the historic neighborhood of Corktown, Detroit. Thanks to its focus on from-scratch meals with ethically and locally sourced ingredients, Folk has developed a wide and loyal fan base and is now expanding into curated gift boxes and catering services.

Recently, Merchant Maverick sat down with $10K Opportunity Grant winner, Chef Joseph Fontelera, to discuss how his business has been faring since he received the grant money. Read on to learn more about Boonie Foods and its dual mission to introduce the delicious universe of Filipino cuisine to people who have never experienced those flavors before — and to be a taste of home for Filipino expatriates.

In 2022, Merchant Maverick pledged to give a total of $100K to Americans of Asian and Pacific Island descent. This year’s grants of $10K were issued to ten different AAPI-owned restaurants, spread across the United States from Alaska to New York.

Merchant Maverick Opportunity Grant winner Abena Foli of POKS Spices works hard to make delicious, authentic West African flavors available to a wider audience. Read our full interview with Abena to find out how she started her online spice mix company and where she plans to go from here.

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Opportunity Grant Program! Each one of the winning businesses will receive $10,000 in grant funding from Merchant Maverick to help cover current and future expenses. We wish every one of these women the best of luck going forward and strongly believe that they have what it takes to succeed long-term.