Azucar

What Azucar does

Azúcar is a family-owned Cuban-style patisserie founded in 2008 by Vivian Hernandez-Jackson, operating from a single brick-and-mortar storefront at 4820 Newport Avenue in San Diego's Ocean Beach neighborhood. The business sells Cuban pastries (ham croquetas, pastelitos de guayaba con queso, pastelitos de queso, mini papas rellenas, meat pies), baked goods and breakfast items (scones, muffins, quiche), lunch sandwiches (Cubano, Havana, Berto, España, Cuban in Paris), a roster of specialty desserts and layered cakes (Divina, Cinco Leches, Little Havana, Azucar Tiramisu, Diablo, Carrot Crazy, Mango Cheesecake), and Cuban espresso drinks (Café Cubano, Cortadito, Café con Leche). Operational hours are 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM Monday–Friday and 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM Saturday–Sunday, with menu items made in small batches throughout the day using premium ingredients such as all-butter puff pastry, Spanish Iberico cheese, Serrano ham, and unrefined cane sugar.

The company's value proposition rests on an unusual talent and recipe foundation: Vivian Hernandez-Jackson holds the Grande Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu London and previously worked as pastry chef at Claridge's London and Loews Hotel Miami Beach, which she combines with Cuban culinary heritage to produce a differentiated Cuban–French fusion product line. There is no proprietary software platform; technology is limited to an Instagram presence, a WordPress-based website, and third-party ChowNow online ordering integration for skip-the-line pickup. The firm operates as a sole proprietorship/family business with Vivian, her husband Bert, and daughters Estella and Pearl, with no outside investors, parent company, or subsidiary structure.

Revenue comes almost entirely from in-store retail transactions and ChowNow pickup orders on a unit-pricing basis, with custom/specialty cakes quoted per order. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and the business has a single California jurisdiction (USA) footprint serving the local San Diego community. There are no disclosed funding rounds, M&A activity, patents, awards, regulatory actions, or expansion of physical locations; 11–50 employees are indicated. Strategic emphasis to date has been on product differentiation and brand reputation rather than scale, geographic expansion, or technology platform development.

Name

Azucar

Legal name

Azúcar, a Cuban Style Patisserie

Website

https://iloveazucar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Azúcar is a family-owned Cuban-style patisserie in San Diego's Ocean Beach neighborhood, offering Cuban pastries, breakfast baked goods, lunch sandwiches, specialty layered cakes, and Cuban espresso drinks to walk-in retail customers and online pickup orders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail bakery sales: One-time retail transactions for baked goods, pastries, sandwiches, coffee drinks, and specialty cakes. Customers order in-store or through online pickup platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Azúcar is a Cuban-style patisserie that sells freshly baked Cuban pastries (Ham Croquetas, Guava Cheese pastelitos, Cheese Rolls, Meat Pies), baked goods and breakfast items (scones, muffins, quiche, granola, cookies), Cuban-inspired lunch sandwiches (Cubano, Havana, Berto, España), specialty layered desserts (Divina, Key Lime Pie Square, Carrot Crazy, Diablo, Cinco Leches, Tiramisu, custom birthday cakes) and Cuban coffee drinks (Café Cubano, Cortadito, Café con Leche). All items are produced on-premises in small batches throughout the day, with orders placed at the counter or online through ChowNow for pickup.

Product overview

Azúcar is a Cuban-style patisserie operated by Vivian Hernandez-Jackson in San Diego, California. The bakery offers a unified menu of freshly baked Cuban pastries, artisan desserts, specialty coffee drinks, and lunch sandwiches. All products combine classical French pastry training with traditional Cuban flavors and recipes. Items are made in small batches throughout the day using premium ingredients including all-butter puff pastry and unrefined cane sugar.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cuban Pastries Traditional Cuban-style pastries including Ham Croquetas, Mini Papas Rellenas, Guava Cheese (Pastelito de Guayaba con Queso), Cheese Rolls (Pastelito de Queso), Meat Pies (Patelitos de Carne) and Guava Pastry (Pastelito de Guayaba), made with all-butter puff pastry and baked in small batches throughout the day, available for in-store purchase or online order for pickup.
• Baked Goods and Breakfast Morning and all-day baked goods including Raspberry Passionfruit Scones, Blueberry Coconut Scones, Gluten Free Banana Chia Seed Muffins, Azúcar Quiche (ham and Spanish Iberico cheese with savory egg custard in yeasted croissant dough), Coconut Almond Granola (served with low-fat vanilla yogurt and seasonal berries), Salted Toffee Oatmeal Cookies, Manolo Cookies, Coconut Almond Florentine bars, Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels (gluten-free), and weekend-only Doughnut Muffins.
• Lunch Sandwiches Cuban-style lunch sandwiches including the Cubano (slow roasted pork, thinly sliced ham, Swiss cheese, mustard, pickles), the Havana (oven roasted turkey breast, cream cheese, guava marmalade), the Berto (Serrano ham, manchego cheese, arugula, extra virgin olive oil), the España (Spanish-style potato and onion omelet with optional manchego), and the Cuban in Paris (brie, ginger spread, arugula, pears).
• Specialty Desserts and Custom Cakes Assorted specialty desserts and layered cakes including Divina (white chocolate cake with passion fruit curd, raspberries, toasted marshmallow frosting), Key Lime Pie Square, Carrot Crazy (carrot cake soaked in cinnamon syrup with cream cheese mousse), Diablo (dark chocolate cake with chocolate mousse dome), Cinco Leches (gluten-free almond cake soaked in five milks with dulce de leche glaze), Azucar Tiramisu (chocolate cake soaked in rum and Cuban espresso with chocolate chip sabayon), It's Your Birthday (scratch confetti cake with extra sweet vanilla frosting), Senor Peanut (chocolate cookie crust, salted caramel and peanut butter filling), Cielo de Limon (salted pistachio cake with lemon cream and pistachio macaron crumbles), Little Havana (rum cake with dulce de leche), Turron de Havana (hazelnut praline crunch and dark chocolate mousse), Mango Cheesecake, plus mini options and Large 'It's Your Birthday' cakes sized to feed 15.
• Cuban Coffee Drinks Cuban-style espresso beverages including Café Cubano (espresso sweetened with natural cane sugar while brewed), Cortadito (sweet Cuban espresso with hot milk), Café con Leche (two shots of sweetened Cuban coffee with hot milk), and standard Espresso.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Versailles Restaurant: Versailles is the iconic Cuban restaurant and bakery in Miami's Little Havana, serving Cuban pastries alongside full meals. It shares Cuban culinary heritage with Azúcar but operates on the East Coast in Miami rather than competing in San Diego.

Direct peers

• SusieCakes: SusieCakes is a premium specialty bakery with multiple California locations offering cakes, cupcakes, and pastries. It is comparable to Azúcar in its premium positioning, craft baking, and Southern California retail footprint.
• Tartine Bakery: Tartine Bakery is a San Francisco-based specialty bakery and café known for craft breads, pastries, and cakes. It shares Azúcar's small-batch craft model, café component, and premium positioning.
• La Colombe: La Colombe is a specialty coffee roaster and café operator with retail locations. It shares Azúcar's specialty coffee and café retail model, particularly relevant given Azúcar's Cuban espresso beverage offerings.
• Porto's Bakery: Porto's Bakery is a Cuban-American bakery chain founded by a Cuban family in Los Angeles. It is the most direct peer to Azúcar given shared Cuban heritage, premium pastries, family ownership, and retail patisserie model.
• Sprinkles Cupcakes: Sprinkles is a premium cupcake and dessert chain with multiple retail locations. It is comparable to Azúcar in its premium single-category bakery positioning and small-footprint retail stores.
• Magnolia Bakery: Magnolia Bakery is an iconic specialty bakery chain famous for cupcakes and American desserts. It is comparable to Azúcar in its founder-brand story, premium single-category desserts, and retail patisserie model.

Broad incumbents

• Nothing Bundt Cakes: Nothing Bundt Cakes is a national franchise chain focused on bundt cakes and event catering. It is comparable to Azúcar's custom-cake segment and event-driven revenue, though its product line is narrower and more standardized.
• Panera Bread: Panera Bread is a national bakery-café chain specializing in soups, sandwiches, and baked goods. It competes with Azúcar for the breakfast and lunch customer in a bakery-café format, though at vastly different scale.
• Le Pain Quotidien: Le Pain Quotidien is a global bakery-café chain offering pastries, breads, and café items. It overlaps with Azúcar in the bakery-café retail model, though at much larger scale and broader positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/iloveazucar

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Azucar