18 Afro Cuban Businesses in Havana You Should Know About
Moved by the spirit and messages of protesters across the United States and the world, CET is committed to further highlighting, working with and learning from Afro Cuban artists, entrepreneurs and professionals. More progress in areas of fighting racism and discrimination, social justice and holding meaningful dialogues is long overdue. CET will continue to expand its partnerships on the ground and take part in bridge building activities on and off the island focused on these issues. CET is also conducting an internal review to strengthen hiring practices, sensitivity training and analysis of the companies, organizations and individuals we work with. As part of this effort, we’ll work with partner organizations to highlight Afro Cuban owned and operated companies across the island, starting with this list of 18 great businesses you should know about.
1. Salchipizza
Walking down one of Central Havana’s main avenues, you will find a small bakery with prominent Malcom X and Martin Luther King posters, and the ceiling filled with upside down hanging champagne glasses. This is Salchipizza, owned by Alberto Gonzalez, the first Cuban chef to ever win a Michelin star. He recreates traditional Afro-Cuban recipes with traditional methods and uses his background as a chemical engineer within the food industry to create modern techniques for his cooking. He says that making traditional food is his way of paying homage.
Calle Infanta #562, between Valle and Zapata, Centro Habana
2. ReglaSOUL
ReglaSOUL is a project started by activist and member of hip-hop duo Obsesion, Alexey “El Tipo Este” and photographer and filmmaker Amberly Alene. The project promotes an alternative holistic lifestyle and plant based medicine through events and workshops in their community of Regla, Havana. Their mission is “to provide care and resources for the members of our community with minimal access to the means to better improve their self-care, mental health, nutrition, and general wellness for themselves and their families. Through our international initiatives of retreats and collaborative projects, we seek to encourage Afro descendants from both inside and outside of Cuba to help us create the sustainable infrastructure needed to create a better wellness outlook for the black and brown people of the municipality of Regla.” As such, they welcome local and foreign groups alike to learn from their workshops and exchange with their community in Regla.
3. Beyond Roots
University professor Adriana Heredia founded Beyond Roots with the goal of empowering the people and sharing the culture of her Guanabacoa community. Adriana saw Cuba’s tourism market severely lacked Afro Cuban representing and took a chance on the hole in the market. She began with a single Airbnb experience exploring Afro Cuban culture, and it was wildly successful. Eventually she created more experiences - Afro Cuban food, religion, art and dance, and the more tourists who came to visit, the more requests she got for Afro Cuban goods and souvenirs. She then began working with artists and artisans in her community to create just that, and in 2019 opened a storefront in Old Havana selling Afro Cuban goods.
San Ignacio #657 between Jesus Maria y Merced, Old Havana
4. Lo Llevamos Rizo
Lo Llevamos Rizo is a project that began in 2015 by Susana Pilar to create events and provide resources to celebrate and care for natural afro hair. After an extremely successful workshop in 2019, Lo Llevamos Rizo continues sharing history, providing resources, and hosting virtual workshops on taking care of natural hair.
5. Tostonet
Liber Puente Baró and his team can fix any and all of your technological needs at their workshop, centrally located next to Coppelia in Vedado. From repairing, optimizing, and maintaining laptops, phones, and printers, to software development and marketing, Puente Baró has not only built a powerhouse tech workshop, but has also collaborated with over 30 different state run entities, successfully navigating Cuba´s tricky legal frameworks. TostoneT has been around since 2012, but Puente Baró, who studied mechanical engineering and became interested in computer systems at a young age, has dreams and goals for his company that have only just begun. Contact them here.
6. Zulu
Hilda Zulueta began Zulu bags in 1992, smack in the middle of the Special Period, an economic depression that left the island country struggling. It was an unlikely time to start an entrepreneurial endeavor, but she saw it as an opportunity to help her family recover. She began crafting and weaving hand-made leather bags, initially repurposing scraps of leather, into beautiful and unique designs. After years of honing her skills, as well as bringing other family members on to the team, Hilda has created a stunning, unique, and recognizable brand that showcases her brilliant craftsmanship. You can visit their store in Old Havana to see their entire collection of bags, ranging from small pocketbooks and handbags to back packs and duffel bags, all made of impeccable and quality leather.
Aguacate 456, between Teniente Rey and Muralla
7. El Café
Credit: The Splurge
After six years working in London cafes, Nelson Tamayo Rodriguez decided it was time to come home to Havana to start a cafe of his own. El Café, to be specific. El Café has quickly become a must-hit in Havana, offering fresh juices, foamy coffees, and packed sandwiches with flavors to write home about. Offering simple, but quality fare, Nelson has found a niche on Amargura Street, and his customers keep coming back.
Amargura #358 | e/ Aguacate y Villegas
8. Dador
DADOR is the brainchild of Lauren Fajardo, Isle Anton, and Raquel Janero, friends from Havana’s Institute of Design. They graduated a decade ago and each pursued various endeavors until private sector reforms took root in Cuba in 2015. The opening inspired the creation of a thoughtfully designed, sustainable fashion based in Havana, Cuba. In a 2019 interview, Lauren told us: “I look forward to creating a forward-thinking, sustainable business that is part of the creative output of an emerging group of talented Cuban fashion designers who are making socially relevant, thoughtfully designed, well-crafted locally made goods that bring a modern take to Cuban fashion.”
Amargura #253 between Habana and Compostela
9. Jibaro
Jibaro is a Havana-based clothing brand started by Marlon White Luna, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts with a specialty in Digital Art. In the past three years, he has focused on underground fashion through is own brand Jibaro. Jibaro is an act of freedom expressed through graphic and Baroque pieces which connect two universes which are moving further and further apart: postmodern society and Biblical thought.
Sold in shops around Havana, including Capicua
10. Citykleta
Citykleta is a bike tour business based in Havana started by Yasser Gonzalez. After studying and working to become a software developer, he decided to follow his passion instead: bikes. He started Citykleta as the city’s first private bike touring business with the additional mission to change the culture of biking in Cuba. Along with his tours, he began a weekly nighttime bike ride for habaneros to promote biking in Cuba - an activity with a history of negative stereotypes. After the fall of the Soviet Union wrought havoc on the Cuban economy, many Cubans were forced to bike to get around, on hundreds of thousands of bicycles shipped in as aid from China. Yasser aims to create a new age of biking in Cuba - with positivity and sustainability in mind.
11. Que Negra
On an island with regular scarcity, there are barely any specialized products that cater to the afro-descendent community’s needs. Erly Pennycook Ramos set out to change that with Que Negra, her line of all-natural hair products for afro-hair. Que Negra offers products to treat, hydrate, and keep healthy natural curls. Erly got the idea for the product line after wanting to give young girls celebrating their quinceñera a different, healthier option than the harsh chemicals used to straighten hair. Erly believes that Cubans need to rely less on outside exports, and focus on what they already have—everything from the line is sourced and produced locally in Ciego de Avila, where Erly is from. Her products can be found in shops in Havana, including Beyond Roots.
12. Robe “El Ninho”’s El Gao
Roberto Alvarez is a barber, rapper and owner of barbershop El Gao. His mission, from an interview in Havana Times, states: “We advocate for natural hair, not because we reject straightened long hair, but because of the damage these treatments cause people, who, a lot of the time, want to stick to an imposed and widely-accepted stereotype. His mission is to find a solution so that ‘you look beautiful with your own style, how you are’.”
From a 2017 New York Times article: “Roberto Alvarez is a Cuban barber with a pop-up ‘mini-salon’ in Havana that draws long lines of men looking for fades. Some of the hottest cuts in Havana today? El yonki (a tall, wide crest), el tiburón (a low-cut mohawk) and el dominicano (short, with longer hair in front). Mr. Alvarez doesn’t like Puig’s tiburón (shark). He thinks it is ‘super-simple’ and ‘without much quality, believe me,’ he wrote over chat on Facebook. But the pineapple, on the other hand, as created by Mr. Gurriel and Mr. Quiles, is ‘very good’.”
13. Casa Sanchana
Casa Sanchana, managed by Doña Alvara, is a breathtaking colonial home in Vedado. With three spacious and beautiful rooms, travelers cannot go wrong staying here. We have worked with Alvara and the Casa Sanchana family for years and highly recommend a stay here.
14. Casa Osmary
Osmary Armas Ruiz opened her beautiful Vedado home to visitors in 2015, after living in Germany for a couple of years. She has since expanded her businesses to offer tours and transportation for travelers, along with earning the title of “Airbnb Superhost”. She is a longtime partner of CET’s and we can’t recommend her services enough. Her multistory home with a patio rooftop and original colonial design is located in the heart of Vedado and you can find her on Airbnb here.
15. Casa En La Habana
“New” on the casa scene, Denisse Rondon carefully crafted the style, design and quality of Casa Lidia, Casa Julia and Casa Marina. The three modern and refurbished apartments sit in buildings conveniently located near Vedado’s thoroughfare Linea. The only thing better than the views and the ambience is a coffee with Denisse and cracking open one of the books on her stacked bookshelves.
16. Corpus Habana Spa
Corpus Habana is a project led by professional and entrepreneurial Cuban women that provides comprehensive body massage, cosmetology and lifestyle counseling in Havana, Cuba. The Vedado-based spa offers an array of massages, facials, and beauty services. Started by Dr. Suney Peña Corrales, a doctor of medicine specializing in family medicine and physical rehabilitation and a reiki master. In the Corpus Habana team’s own words:
“We are young dreamers and fighters and we created this integral healing project together. We offer our services throughout Havana and we like all that is moving, authentic, and dynamic. We came for a culture of “no hay” and created a new and different service. We are defenders of the values that our ancestors have instilled in us. We love the creativity and work of Cuban women to advance our country every day.”
Calle G #351, on the corner of Calle 15, corpushabana2016@gmail.com
17. Fabrica de Arte Cubano
The Fabrica de Arte Cubano (FAC) is a public-private partnership, and it is the brainchild of Afro Cuban rockstar X Alfonso. What started as a space for art and artists to convene in Havana is now a staple of the city’s life and a must hit for travelers around the world. In 2018, FAC was named one of TIME magazine’s Top 100 Places in the World to Visit. In X’s own words, here’s what the honor meant to him:
“It means that you should always believe you can achieve greater things in life. When you lean into your dreams, into good ideas and good energy, towards an objective—and of course, surrounded by people that believe the same thing—unbelievable things can be achieved, like this award, gift or whatever you want to call it. Can you even imagine being included in one of the best 100 places in the world to visit?! A magazine with the kind of experience, reach, and long history that Times has?! Anything is possible, even in the face of large obstacles, needs, a lack of possibilities or people that don’t support your good intentions. You should believe anything is possible.
It’s a gift for everyone on the team that has laid their life here, and every person that has offered their little grain of sand in order to create this space, our FAC, made with love and a lot of sacrifice.”
18. BarbarA’s Power
BarbarA’s Power is a business and project started by Deyni Terry Abreu, producing clothing inspired by African textiles from recycled materials. The Cojimar-based initiative aims to recognize and revitalize Afro-Cuban culture through fashion, while providing employment for Afro Cuban women. The founder states that her business is “aimed at African descendants in Cuba, with the purpose of expanding and revitalizing the work of Black women.” BarbarA’s Power creates jobs, empowers Afro Cuban women, and offers products which celebrate diversity. Today, as Cubans are under quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BarbarA’s Power has converted their sewing machines to create face masks for the public and those in need. The business also created an aid route to provide basic necessities to vulnerable individuals in their community.
…and counting
There are thousands of Afro Cuban owned businesses in Havana and across the island. We are actively seeking out more. Give us a shout on social media or email us at info@cubaeducationaltravel.com if you have or know of Afro Cuban businesses you’d like to spotlight.