DURHAM, N.C. — As the economy begins to perk up, businesses in the hospitality industry are struggling to meet the demand of consumers due to staffing shortages.

When Beyu Caffe closed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dorian Bolden and his team at Beyu Caffe found a way to put their resources to use in order to help the Durham community during some of the most trying times.

What You Need To Know

  • Beyu Caffe created the ‘Beyu Food Project’ at the start of the pandemic to fight food insecurity as a result of the pandemic

  • The Beyu Food Project has served over 250,000 individual meals since beginning operations

  • Beyu Caffe has three locations in Durham and is actively hiring

The Beyu Food Project originated out of collaboration with downtown Durham’s emergency alliance between small businesses to address food insecurity during the pandemic.

The café began working with nonprofits and surrounding restaurants to feed families, senior citizens and other vulnerable residents in the community.

“As we were providing school meals, family meals, senior meals, we realized there was a real demand out there to tackle food insecurity,” Dorian Bolden, CEO and Chief Vision Officer for the Beyu Group said.

They have since served 268,000 individual meals through the Beyu Food Project. Recently, Bolden and his team were able to acquire a location to open a commercial kitchen where they are able to cook meals on a larger scale, not only for the food project, but for their catering and grab-and-go services.

However, while they have the tools and resources necessary, they still need more people to keep up with the demand.

“We are definitely not fully staffed right now. Just with the growth of our community meals and with the catering picking up, just the nature of the economy picking back up, we are definitely in need,” Bolden said.

With the opening of a third location in the Boxyard at Research Triangle Park and a fourth location in the works, Bolden said they will need to hire an additional 15 to 20 people in order to be fully staffed.

“It has been difficult to hire and find people. We have been successful at bringing people on and maintain staffing levels because we were able to grow. The need to find a pool of new applicants has been challenging because of the current condition,” Bolden said.

Bolden said they are not just looking for anyone to fill the void. They also would like employees that are interested in growing with their business.

“How do we make sure we find the right people who fit our core values, which is to uplift and inspire communities through excellence,” Bolden said.

Although it’s been a challenge to adapt to the changing environment, Bolden hopes what his business is doing will help inspire others to want to join their movement.

“The company you decide to work for, look at what they do during the times of struggle. It’s easy to do great things for people when you're successful, but when you’re really at the worst of times, what does your organization do,” Bolden said.

To learn more about the Beyu Food Project, click here.