Los Alamos Reporter

LANL: Wolf & Mermaid Enchanted Cafe Will feed 18,000 Los Alamos National Laboratory Employees Fresh, Local Options

At the recent Business Opportunities Summit, organized by the Regional Development Corporation, leaders held a fireside chat about Wolf & Mermaid’s journey from farmer’s market retailer to the Laboratory’s new food and beverage provider. From left: RDC Executive Director Pat Vanderpool, Wolf & Mermaid co-owner Scott Baird, Los Alamos MainStreet Executive Director Jacquelyn Connolly, and Patrick Duran of the Laboratory’s Community Partnerships Office. Photo Courtesy LANL

Wolf & Mermaid will now operate cafeterias, cafes, micro-markets and the food truck program in addition to providing catering at the Laboratory. Photo Courtesy LANL

Lab leaders sign the food-and-beverage contract at the Business Opportunities Summit held at Northern New Mexico College in Española. From left: Scott Aeilts, associate laboratory director for Business Management; Yvonne Gonzales, procurement specialist Acquisition Services Management; Stephanie Galvez, group leader, ASM; Mark Davis, deputy laboratory director for Operations. Photo Courtesy LANL

LANL NEWS RELEASE

Los Alamos National Laboratory employees are literally getting a taste of local flavor this fall, as Wolf & Mermaid Enchanted Café signs a new food-and-beverage contract with the Lab.

“This is a win for regional small business, and an example of how several organizations work together to support economic development in northern New Mexico starting from the grassroots level,” said Kathy Keith, director of the Lab’s Community Partnerships Office.

The brainchild of Scott Baird and Kate Kudynska, Wolf & Mermaid began with the two of them selling coffee beans at local farmer’s markets. Today, they have three café locations in Los Alamos and Santa Fe and expect to have 75 employees by year’s end. Under their new food-and-beverage contract with the Lab, they will operate cafeterias, cafes and micro markets, offer catering and manage the Lab’s food truck program.

Scaling a business takes time and cooperation, and Kudynska and Baird made great strides by leveraging resources and support from local economic development organizations.

Timeline:

  • 2022: Wolf & Mermaid sells coffee at northern New Mexico farmer’s markets and participates in Los Alamos MainStreet’s Business Accelerator, taking free management classes.
  • 2023: Wolf & Mermaid opens a brick-and-mortar location in Los Alamos with assistance from the Accelerator; they also apply for and receive a $3,000 grant from the Regional Development corporation to buy a pastry oven; subsequently they open their second location at Santa Fe Airport.
  • 2024: Wolf & Mermaid applies for and receive a $20,000 grant from the Regional Development corporation to buy a bagging machine for coffee beans.
  • 2025: Wolf & Mermaid opens location in downtown Santa Fe.
  • 2026: Wolf & Mermaid bids on Laboratory food & beverage contract.

Baird says that starting one’s own business takes a lot of courage and investment, but economic development organizations can help bridge the gaps. “In general, New Mexico has a lot of good state and local programs, so reach out to them. Always take the call, always get the meeting. Keep trying. There’s a lot of help if you ask for it.”

“Our goal is to collaborate with our communities to foster a healthy business ecosystem throughout northern New Mexico,” said Patrick Duran of the Laboratory’s Community Partnerships Office, citing that Triad National Security, the Lab’s management and operations contractor, has supported the Los Alamos MainStreet Business Accelerator, with $22,000 in funding over the past six years. The Accelerator has benefitted Wolf & Mermaid and many others.

In addition to cooperating with local economic development organizations, the Laboratory has committed to small businesses by actively seeking to subcontract with capable small businesses in categories such as historically underutilized business zones, veteran-owned small businesses, and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. Lab policy also gives a 10 % pricing preference to northern New Mexico small businesses bidding on their contracts. In 2025 the Laboratory spent $752.5 million on procurement in New Mexico, more than $381 million of that with small businesses.

“We couldn’t be happier about Wolf & Mermaid’s success and we’d love to work with more small businesses in the region,” said Yvonne Gonzales, Small Business Program Manager in the Laboratory’s Acquisition Services Management division.