Refugees Find Success, Welcoming Community with Syrian Food Cart on Vashon Island
Safa Jneidi, with her husband Iyad Alati, launched their business in 2019 with a focus on local ingredients and traditional recipes from their home city of Aleppo, Syria. Their daily food cart has established a loyal following among the Vashon community and has grown their business by offering packaged foods in local coffee shops, cafes, and grocery stores.
Jneidi moved her family to the United States in 2017. After fleeing Syria as refugees and spending four years in Turkey, they were relocated to Washington state by the United Nations. Through an invitation by the Vashon Resettlement Committee, the couple found a new home on Vashon Island, where they now reside with their three children.
Once settled, the couple knew they wanted to open their own business. Before leaving Aleppo, the Alati family owned a textile shop - in Iyad’s family for centuries – but his passion for cooking and sharing food sparked their new journey as entrepreneurs.
During their time in Turkey, Alati worked in restaurant kitchens, honing his skills. When the couple came to Washington State, he enrolled in Project Feast, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower refugees and immigrants by providing pathways to sustainable employment in the food industry. Once he graduated, he found work in local restaurants while the couple hoped to start their own venture to showcase their cuisine.
While Alati crafted his recipes, Jneidi enrolled in English language classes and began navigating the process of starting a food business, learning about licensing and permitting, and acquiring the equipment they needed to launch their food cart at the Vashon Farmers Market.
After launching in 2019, Jneidi’s business soon faced the challenges of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following local health guidance, they implemented social distancing measures and sold their food outdoors, but it was a challenge to stay afloat. Jneidi utilized funding from the SBA COVID Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) program to help cover expenses and remain in business while experiencing a reduction in revenue.
“It was a hard time to stay in business,” Jneidi said of the pandemic. “The opportunity to get this loan from the SBA was a big help to cover expenses, buy ingredients, and keep advertising. We are thankful that the SBA was there to help small businesses like ours continue and survive.”
Today, Jneidi and Alati are ready to expand. They open their food cart daily to a line of dedicated customers and, through her tenacity, Jneidi has placed their packaged food on an increasing number of shelves in area supermarkets and cafés. The demand from customers is growing, they are developing more packaged items, and plans for a mobile food truck to bring their cuisine to more locations are in progress.
With their sights set on bringing their food to eaters beyond Vashon, they credit their local community for giving them the support they needed along the way.
“We are grateful to every one of the people here on Vashon Island,” Jneidi said. “Without them, we would not be here. We are lucky to be here in this great community.”
In May 2023, Safa Jneidi was named the 2023 SBA Seattle District Young Entrepreneur of the Year.