Once you download AlaMesa app you immediately get it: its simple and it works! That’s why trying to get a sneak peak on what happens behind scenes was such an interesting experience. It all started six and a half years ago when Alamesa launched its business with one goal in mind: to provide reliable, updated and quality information about the Cuban culinary scene. How? A website with an online guide, a weekly newsletter, a mobile app and strong social media presence. Back then, five newly graduated students from Cuban universities saw an opportunity, grabbed it and ended up developing a new innovative product. When they started out, Alamesa would only offer information regarding Havana’s culinary scene. However, they worked hard and since have grown dramatically from the days when they would go knocking on restaurants’ doors to offer their product. Alamesa app is now found in every selfrespected smartphone and has over 1100 restaurants, bars and ice cream parlors listed all throughout Cuba — with the exception of Isla de la Juventud. Alamesa’s website was launched with only thirty restaurants listed on its website yet they were able to quickly build a larger database because “we are people who know people, and therefore we were able to quickly expand, mainly through friends from other provinces. We found people who knew the local culinary culture and that were willing to work with us in building AlaMesa”, says Yondainer Gutiérrez, group designer. The entire registration process is free of charge. Alamesa has a financially self-sustaining model that offers their subscribers promotional spaces, advertisement, campaigns on AlaMesa social media. Yon explains: “This has been our policy from the beginning. It doesn’t make sense to charge business owners to list their businesses in Alamesa, because if we would face lack of payment from a business, the user looking for a place to eat would be the only one affected”. They run a tight team with Jenny Álvarez and Yon handling legal and operations department; Alfonso Alí, with programming; and Ariel Causa, leading content generation and marketing. Yet among the creative, commercial and programming team, the entire operation is made up of seventeen people, allowing us to enjoy the best dining experiences in Cuba. But Alamesa is not just a smartphone version of your old phone book, their website and app lets users share reviews on restaurants and bars; it allows you to place a reservation at your favorite restaurant and helps people find jobs in the restaurant industry. It has it all! It’s an all-in-one restaurant & bar service. And by the way, they also have a blog called Ajiaco Criollo where they post the most interesting information about Cuban gastronomy, such as a recent article on what Cuba’s national hero, Jose Marti, last meals were, shortly before falling in battle in 1895. They also have a strong social media presence where they’re able to share other m a t e r i a l s related to food and cooking, such as music, recipes, and have recently been starting to share tips and information on wines and cocktails. So even though it’s hard to estimate how many people access their app on a daily basis due to the fact that it works offline, Alamesa closed November 2017 with a little over 40 thousand app downloads; 93 thousand web users; 4,500 newsletter subscribers and 15 thousand followers on their social media. Not bad for a group of Cuban entrepreneurs who have placed a product — developed and managed in Cuba — both in Google Play and the AppStore, defying international trade sanctions over Cuba by placing a Cuban product in the United States. AlaMesa wants to have it “all covered” — as their slogan says—; in fact, they have already become a bridge between Cuban restaurants and visitors from all over the world. If it’s related to the culinary arts, from products to recipes and traditions, these entrepreneurs aim to satisfy the most demanding needs, because as they state: “Alamesa will continue to be pave the way on Cuban culinary culture, and in making it more easily accesible to people”.
