Meet My Mama: a delicious tale of entrepreneurship and social innovation

The heart of the start-up beats in Marseille with 6 Mamas from around the world

The story of Meet My Mama’s heart and flavors is now unfolding in Marseille. Founded in Paris in 2017 by Loubna Ksibi, Donia Amamra, and Youssef Oudahman, in July 2022 the innovative catering company took up residence at L'Épopée, a third space in Marseille that is ideally suited for developing a social innovation project focused on global cuisine. From the first meeting with Synergie Family, which runs L’Épopée, to the first Mamas now in incubation to launch their catering business, the adventure of the Mamas in Marseille is gaining momentum! Supported by local stakeholders and Provence Promotion, Meet My Mama sees its establishment in Marseille as a logical step in the company’s growth.

Meet My Mama’s business success is based on an inclusive and innovative recipe that combines culinary passion and professional catering skills. Whether for immigrant women, refugees, expatriates, or simply people seeking to change careers, the company offers opportunities for both locals and people arriving from around the world to earn a living in the culinary field.

Meet My Mama is structured around three main activities: a Mama Academy for women who wish to discover the catering profession, an entrepreneurial support program for those who aspire to create their own business, and a B2B catering service for big companies that enables Mamas in the incubation program to start working in a professional setting.

This bold business model has social innovation at its core and it embraces a human approach. Meet My Mama was created as a start-up in 2017 in Paris, and in July 2022, the business was set up at L’Épopée, a unique third space in Marseille dedicated to educational and inclusive innovation.

Meet My Mama’s Marseille adventure

“Meet My Mama had been receiving many expressions of interest from women and institutions in Marseille. The meeting with Synergie Family was decisive. We share the same values as Laurent Choukroun, the president of Synergie Family and the co-founder of L’Épopée. Setting up our business at L'Épopée was a great opportunity to be part of the dynamic local social and solidarity economy and to benefit from premises with a kitchen. All the conditions for success were there!” says Donia Amamra, who first contacted Provence Promotion about the move to Marseille in 2021.

“Local public authorities were immediately interested in the project. Provence Promotion put us in touch with many potential partners, including the Pôle Emploi employment agency, and in January, the agency gave us the Invest in Provence award for our move to the territory. We also received advice on legal matters and on securing financing. Through the Vinci Foundation, the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, and the City of Marseille, and with help from Marseille Solutions, we received a grant and benefited from a business support program.”

Today, six Mamas are participating in the business incubation program in Marseille. They come from Morocco, Comoros, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Indonesia, and Siberia!

First steps towards developing a career in catering: the Meet My Mama business incubator

“We offer women with a business project a full year’s support, including hands-on training through our catering activities and weekly themed training to acquire the fundamentals of entrepreneurship,” says Agathe Druelle, head of the Meet My Mama incubator in Marseille.

“The unique feature of this inclusive incubation program is that it can pay the Mamas. Meet My Mama’s catering business allows them to focus exclusively on their cooking and culinary identity. They receive customized coaching, and during the first year, all the administrative, material, logistical, and marketing obstacles are removed,” explains Agathe Druelle.

While the Mamas learn to showcase their culinary skills during professional catering events, they are also encouraged to explain their approach to cooking and to impart their culture. This is a way to share both a gourmet and a cultural journey.

The six Mamas currently taking part in the program in Marseille were selected from among a hundred women who attended the information day organized in June 2022. To enter the program, they needed to participate in individual and group interviews, take personality tests, and demonstrate their cooking abilities!

Launching their own businesses as independent caterers

The next logical step for the Mamas in the business incubation program is to join the business acceleration program after one year of training so they can set up their own business and catering kitchen. During this acceleration period, they will continue to receive support as they gradually find their place in the catering market.

The next stage of development in Marseille will be the launch of the business acceleration program in September 2023. The opening of a Mama Academy, the Meet My Mama school that will offer training that meets the French government’s Qualiopi certification standards, is also in the works. It will offer, among other programs, HACCP food safety and handling training and certification in business creation.

More than 200 women have benefited from Meet My Mama’s coaching and training services, and the Mama network has contributed to the delivery of food for more than 3000 catered events, mainly for major companies listed on France’s CAC 40 stock index.