Cornell survey finds most of 200 Black women food entrepreneurs report revenue under $25,000
Cornell researchers found the overwhelming majority of 200 surveyed Black women in food reported annual revenue under $25,000. The design describes the pattern but cannot show whether missing capital or mentorship holds revenue down.
The Scientist · Science desk
Bar comparison: women-owned businesses overall represent 39.2% of all businesses but 6.2% of revenue, according to a 2026 Wells Fargo report cited in the Cornell summary.
Women-owned businesses' share of total, 2026 Wells Fargo report
| Item | Value | Claim |
|---|---|---|
| Share of all businesses | 39.2% | 3 |
| Share of all revenue | 6.2% | 3 |
What happened
- Lilly Jan of Cornell's Nolan School found data on Black-owned and on women-owned businesses but little on Black women, so she and undergraduate Emma Roder built their own survey.
- More than half of respondents ran their business alone.
- Personal savings led every other funding source by a wide margin. Few respondents used traditional loans or investment capital.
- Most respondents held bachelor's or graduate degrees but reported limited or no access to robust professional networks or mentorship.
Why it matters
- constraint Programs aimed at these founders can use the profile to find them. How much revenue would change with added capital or a mentor is still an open question.
- decision A funder choosing between capital and mentorship will have to decide on other grounds, because most respondents reported thin access to both.
- capability Later surveys of Black women in food now have a described baseline for business size, funding source and mentorship to compare against.
All 200 participants came from Black Women in Food programs, including the organization's third annual summit in Washington, D.C., in April 2025 [4]. Its co-founders, Nina Oduro and Maame Boakye, collaborated with Jan and Roder on the report [9]. These are women reachable through one professional network, and the findings describe them. We would not stretch them to every Black woman who runs a food business.
The survey asked about business size, financing and access to capital, educational background and access to peer mentors [5]. On Cornell's description, it did not measure effort. The authors conclude that structural inequities play an outsize part in these founders' entrepreneurial journeys, pointing to a lack of access to capital investment and to peer-centered mentorship [14].
The conclusion reads a pattern: small businesses, mostly funded from savings, with thin mentor networks. The description of the study does not include a comparison group of founders who had capital and mentors, so it cannot show that the capital gap is what holds revenue down. We think the arrow may also run the other way, since a solo business with under $25,000 in revenue is a hard case for a lender.
Cornell's summary sets the revenue finding beside a 2026 Wells Fargo report, which found women-owned businesses are 39.2% of all businesses but 6.2% of revenue [3]. Divide the second figure by the first and revenue share is about 16% of business share [13]. That figure covers all women-owned businesses, a far broader group than these 200 respondents.
Revenue may also not be the outcome every respondent was after. Jan said many of these businesses "were not rooted in just financial gain, but also social and cultural gain" [10]. The summary says funding through savings limits these businesses' ability to scale up [15]. It does not report how many respondents wanted to scale.
Oduro, co-founder of Black Women in Food, said: "For years, we've obtained anecdotal stories about the barriers Black women face in the food industry, but it was time to move beyond that" [11]. For Jan, the starting point was a gap in the record. "I've always found that what you choose to count reflects what you care about," she said [12].
What to watch
- Whether the full report gives exact revenue bands and funding shares in place of 'overwhelming majority' and 'far and away'.
- A follow-up wave, or a comparison sample of founders outside Black Women in Food programs, which would let capital and mentorship be tested against revenue.
- Whether future waves ask founders how large they wanted their businesses to grow.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives35
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Lilly Jan, an assistant teaching professor in the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration, found last year that there was information on Black-owned businesses and on women-owned businesses but not much research on Black women in the food industry; she and then-undergraduate Emma Roder '26 produced a report to fill the gap.
- [2]
The overwhelming majority of respondents reported annual revenue of less than $25,000, and most operate as microenterprises.
- [3]
A 2026 Wells Fargo report found that overall, women-owned businesses represent 39.2% of all businesses but just 6.2% of revenue.
- [4]
The 200 study participants came from Black Women in Food programs, including its third annual summit, held in Washington, D.C., in April 2025.
- [5]
Participants completed a survey developed by Jan and Roder that sought information on business size, financing and access to capital, educational background and ability to access peer mentors.
- [6]
More than half of the respondents reported running their business alone.
- [7]
Personal savings were far and away the most common funding source among respondents, with traditional lending and investment capital the exception.
- [8]
Most respondents reported bachelor's or graduate degrees, but also limited or no access to robust professional networks or mentorship systems.
- [9]
Black Women in Food co-founders Nina Oduro and Maame Boakye collaborated with Jan and Roder on the report.
- [10]
Jan said of the businesses: "They were not rooted in just financial gain, but also social and cultural gain."
- [11]
Nina Oduro, co-founder of Black Women in Food, said: "For years, we've obtained anecdotal stories about the barriers Black women face in the food industry, but it was time to move beyond that."
- [12]
Jan said: "I've always found that what you choose to count reflects what you care about."
- [13]
Women-owned businesses' revenue share is about 16% of their share of all businesses (6.2 / 39.2 = 0.158).
- [14]
The report 'Black Women in Food Industry Report: Entrepreneurship Across the Food Landscape' found that structural inequities, such as lack of access to capital investment and peer-centered mentorship, play an outsize role in Black women's entrepreneurial journeys.
- [15]
Funding via savings limits these businesses' ability to scale up.
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- phys.orgBlack women in food industries face systemic roadblocks
1 article · October 13, 2026
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