Loisa

Meet the savory, family-focused brand that’s building a new Latin kitchen at WeWork

One day, Scott Hattis and Kenneth Luna were walking around their neighborhood, the Lower East Side—a historical hub for Latin culture and community—when they got a sign. Literally. While walking, they saw a sign with “Loisaida,” Spanglish for “Lower East Side,” and knew they’d found a name for the company they’d been dreaming up since 2017.

Enter: Loisa, the cooking essentials company making up the new Latin kitchen. Loisa’s intentionally made products—like Sazón & Adobo—use only organic and sustainable ingredients so everyone can enjoy the flavors of Latin culture for generations to come. 

Representing Latin flavor across grocery aisles 

Hattis and Luna, Loisa’s co-founders, believe everyone deserves to enjoy Latin flavors without compromising quality or ingredients. Yet no products on the market made that possible, making it high time for clean Latin flavors to be as accessible as artificial ones. Inspired by the tastes they grew up with, the duo set out to stock shelves with a line of all-natural Latin cooking essentials while representing the Latin culture in grocery stores nationwide. 

“It’s important for the Latin community to feel seen in our products,” says Loisa’s head chef and educator, Yadira Garcia, a fellow Dominican. Today, Loisa is the first and only Sazón available at Whole Foods Market and the first line of all-natural Latin cooking products at Sprouts and Target.

“Our goal is to honor the past while carrying the culture forward,” says Hattis. They do so by being inclusive of the diverse and vibrant communities they’re a part of today while preserving their ancestral history and recipes. In fact, Loisa’s products stem from three generations of family recipes from Garcia. “Even though my grandmother, great-grandmother, and mother may not be here today, they live on in the products we make,” she says.

Cooking up a company based on community

Cooking Latin cuisine is about more than flavor to the vibrant brand. It’s about family. To Loisa, seeing kids and families enjoying their products and recipes is the ultimate success, especially in a world that is only moving faster. “There’s too much of an emphasis on convenience and speed, especially with food,” says Luna. “We want to help slow things down…for people to see the moment when their rice is cooking, and they’re prepping food, as an opportunity to spend time with friends and family.”

“Our business is not just about food; it’s about community; that’s the first ingredient in our products,” Luna adds. Garcia agrees, saying, “There’s no bigger source of inspiration than the people in our communities, and now, with WeWork, we have two.”

Expanding its diverse community at WeWork

Loisa, who’s been a member of WeWork since 2021, uses their office space as a source of ideas and community-building. “We’re a small company,” starts Luna, “and being around other entrepreneurs and businesses is fuel.” Garcia feels similarly, saying that being among people who are dreaming, visioning, and planning around her daily is what adds fuel to her tank, too.

As for Luna? For him, the WeWork community has helped them take their business to the next level, especially as they continue to build more partnerships with creators and home chefs.

Growing at the right pace in the right space 

While being around people initially drew Loisa to become a member, the team has found that WeWork’s flexibility and on-site services have helped foster their growth. “We needed a space that could grow with us and let us stay flexible so we don’t lose sight of what matters most,” says Hattis. “You can grow here, you can downsize here, and you can store stuff here, keeping it out of your apartment,” he adds. 

Luna agrees, noting that WeWork’s on-site services have made it easier for them to focus on growing their business and not having to focus on where their team will meet or what coffee they’ll drink. Having that stable foundation and a place to go has helped Loisa stay centered so that it can meet its goal of building a family of products that folks carry forward for generations. 

“We want to be a mass brand, not for the sake of being big, but for the sake of accessibility,” says Luna. “Because everyone should have a product that makes their food taste, “Just like Abuela made it!”

Skipping the commute to skip into the future

Hattis, who lives a block and a half away from WeWork, walks his kids to school before work every day. “I have two young kids, and a commute takes time,” he says. “Having WeWork nearby allows me to take my kids to school every day before going to the office, and that’s really meaningful to me.” 

For Hattis and the Loisa team, it’s about finding balance—between work and family, between tradition and innovation. With WeWork, Loisa has found a space that helps them preserve the past while building a future full of flavor, connection, and possibility.

What dreams are you cooking up? Find the missing ingredients at WeWork. Learn more about our flexible workspace solutions and communities that can support your brightest ideas.