Meet the locals making money from home, with nothing but a kitchen and a permit
Briana Mathaw
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) – You can now legally run a food business straight from your own home kitchen in Santa Cruz County, thanks to a new two-year pilot program known as Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKO).
Approved by the County Board of Supervisors, this initiative opens the door for residents to cook and sell food directly from their private kitchens, once they meet health and safety requirements and obtain a permit from the county’s Health Services Agency.
The goal of the program is to help home cooks in low-income or underserved communities get started without needing a full commercial kitchen.
“A program, adopted through the state, in 2018, to primarily assist, start up, people to start up into the retail food industry without a lot of overhead expense associated with developing a full restaurant or a market or what have you,” Andrew Strader said.
Under the MEHKO guidelines, home-based food businesses can serve up to 30 meals per day and a total of 90 meals per week.
The program officially launched on January 1, 2025, and so far, only eight permits have been issued. Still, for many local entrepreneurs, especially those juggling caregiving responsibilities or trying to minimize costs, this is seen as a big opportunity.
However, the rollout hasn’t been without challenges. Fewer people applied than anticipated, and a key source of federal funding tied to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives was cut during the Trump administration.
Fortunately, the county was able to reallocate funds to keep the program moving forward.
Since 2019, California law has given cities and counties the authority to allow MEHKOs. Santa Cruz County only recently adopted it, making this pilot program a first for the area.
“I think this sort of thing is going to allow a lot more entrepreneurs to start up,” Sean Burau said.
Burau, the owner and founder of Cliffside Coffee, spent the past year building a mobile coffee bar in his garage.
“So this is the coffee start I’ve been building for the past year. I designed it myself,” Sean Burau said.
His custom cart is powered by golf cart batteries and features a gas-fueled espresso machine, designed to operate completely off-grid.
“I’m going to be deploying this, basically spots that don’t have any power at all. So it has to be totally off grid,” Sean Burau said.
After meeting all necessary health regulations and getting his MEHKO permit, Burau is ready to bring his mobile coffee bar to the streets.
“I think this sort of thing is going to allow a lot more entrepreneurs to start up because the cost of living is already so high here,” Sean Burau said.
For him, it’s not just about business, it’s about passion.
“All I’m looking to do. Make coffee? She’ll buy the ocean,” Sean Burau said.
But there are limitations. MEHKO businesses are not allowed to publicly advertise their home locations.
“Part of the Meeko permit is that you can’t advertise at the spot, so they don’t want you running something where, like, yeah, I guess, like, people are, like, showing up, because they saw a sign in your yard or anything like that,” Sean Burau said.
Even with restrictions, mobility has its perks.
“It’s just very flexible if I’m not having, like, a lot of business at that spot on a certain day. I can go somewhere else. I go to a farmer’s market. I can book a private event. Yeah. I mean, I think the mobile stuff is a good way to work around a lot of the bureaucracy and lock in that you find in a lot of businesses in Santa Cruz,” Sean Burau said.
He’s banking on the steady foot traffic at Pleasure Point, a popular local surf spot, to bring in business.
“I’m hoping to be getting lots of customers every day at that point. It’s a really popular surf spot. Lots of people walk there already, usually with coffees from other locations. So I’m hoping that I can provide something that’s a little more convenient, right at the spot,” Sean Burau said.
Still, starting a small business can be daunting.
“If I could give any message to the city, it would be that, the process right now to start a business is very, very unfriendly. Individually, everyone that I dealt with was professional and nice, but the system as a whole is really, really dysfunctional,” Sean Burau said.
Within MEHKO regulations, Burau is limited in what and how much he can serve.
“There are limits on the amount you can do, because I think they don’t want you to be, like, operating a full size, like, ghost kitchen out of your house or whatever. But fill out the packet, give them your, like, menu. So for me, it’s just like coffee, tea, cold foam, that kind of thing,” Sean Burau said.
The pilot will run through the end of 2026, with a report from the county expected at the end of 2025 and another upon the program’s conclusion.