This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Lilly Jan was perplexed and a little annoyed. Last year, Jan, an assistant teaching professor in the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, was trying to collect information on food industry businesses owned by Black women.
"There was information on Black-owned businesses; there was information on women-owned businesses," Jan said. "But there wasn't a lot of research on Black women and how they're doing in that space. "I've always found that what you choose to count reflects what you care about," she said.
"That there wasn't information about this really bothered me." So Jan and a then-Nolan School undergraduate, Emma Roder '26, did something about it. The result is the report "Black Women in Food Industry Report: Entrepreneurship Across the Food Landscape," which found that structural inequities—such as lack of access to capital investment and peer-centered mentorship—play an outsize role in their entrepreneurial journeys. The overwhelming majority of respondents reported annual revenue of less than $25,000, and most operate as microenterprises; a 2026 Wells Fargo report found that overall, women-owned businesses represent 39.2% of all businesses but just 6.2% of revenue.
Jan and Roder also found that for many Black women in the food sector, it's about more than just the food. "So many of these businesses are rooted in community and larger meaning," Jan said. "It wasn't simply about building a business.
It was also about engaging with a community or a culture, supporting legacy. They were not rooted in just financial gain, but also social and cultural gain." The 200 study participants came from Black Women in Food programs, including its third annual summit, held in Washington, D.C., in April 2025. Nina Oduro and Maame Boakye, the organization's other co-founder, collaborated with Jan and Roder on the report.
"The collaboration to get this data was essential," said Oduro, co-founder of Black Women in Food, an organization that supports the advancement of Black women professionals across food, beverage and hospitality careers. "For years, we've obtained anecdotal stories about the barriers Black women face in the food industry, but it was time to move beyond that. This report demonstrates that the stories are not isolated experiences.
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