Today, MNR Catering is a full-service Caribbean catering company with six sister brands under its growing culinary ecosystem.
Not every founder becomes an entrepreneur because they planned to. Some do because the journey demands it. Black women are thein the U.S., representing roughly 2.7 million businesses. Many launching companies that better reflect their skill set, values, culture and pursuit of liberation from workplace bias.
That spirit reflects across the Black diaspora. Michelle Nicole Rochester, the Founder and Head Chef of MNR Catering Inc., a luxury Caribbean catering company based in Toronto, is one of them. Her path began far from boardrooms or commercial kitchens. A former Crown Ward of the Children’s Aid Society, she entered foster care as a child and later pursued what seemed like a stable career in law. But her true passion led her to walk away and follow what she calls her “divine calling”: creating culinary experiences rooted in her Jamaican heritage. With no investors, roadmap, or formal business background, Rochester launched MNR Catering from her home kitchen. She started with family recipes, knocked on doors, catered from her car, and hand-delivered orders with her young son in the passenger seat. Today, MNR Catering is a full-service Caribbean catering company with six sister brands under its growing culinary ecosystem. The team has served high-end clients, including Aecon Group, Jays Care Foundation, Toronto District School Board, and Sun Life Financial, catered large-scale events, and fed more than half a million people across Ontario. The company’s impact has also earned Rochester media features on Global News and in Toronto Caribbean News. She now leads a team of fifteen from her storefront in East York, Toronto.For Rochester, the roots of her business stretch back to her grandfather. He was the family’s patriarch and the person who shaped her earliest memories of food and culture. “He helped raise me before I even entered into care, during care, and after,” she says. “He was always cooking. Always in a chef coat, always barbecuing, always hosting events.”Weekends with her grandparents became her cultural lifeline. “Because I was in the system and they were allowed to have me on weekends, they would instill different practices with me,” she explains. “They tried to teach me things I wouldn’t learn because I was no longer with my Jamaican roots. And because they were involved in my life, I had that connection.” Her grandfather, who was known in the family for his soups and his mastery of the grill, taught her early on that food unites people. In 2019, she received a phone call that changed everything. Her grandfather had passed away in a car accident. The news shattered her, but also strengthened her resolve to carry on his legacy of using food to bring people together. That year, she hosted Thanksgiving. After tasting her cooking, a family member urged Rochester to turn her love for cooking into something more. “Why don’t you sell your food?” they suggested. Rochester doubted anyone would buy it, but her family member insisted they would. The true turning point came on December 30, 2019, her grandfather’s birthday and her first without him. To honour him, she submitted a request to CP24 news for a heavenly birthday shout-out, but the moment stirred something deeper. “I thought to myself, What can I give him that he would be proud of me about?” she says. She remembered the things he would always tell her, “Put you and your son first. Do what makes you happy.’” Rochester realized that food brought her joy. With that clarity, she made a decision that would honor his memory. She launched a business and named it after herself: MNR Catering. “I started it for him,” she says.When Rochester launched MNR Catering, she did not have a business plan, startup capital, or industry training. “I had no idea what I was doing,” she says. “But I knew I was a great hostess. I knew I was social. And people already knew my cooking.” She started with an Instagram page and zero followers. Rochester leaned into transparency, showing every step of her process. “I’m very picky with people cooking my food,” she explains. “So I put myself in the client’s shoes. Why would somebody buy from me?” Her strategy was to welcome followers into the kitchen with her. She filmed behind-the-scenes shots of her cooking process, ingredients, finished meals, and moments with her young son. “We used to be like the mom-and-son cook type of catering company,” she laughs. “I posted ten times a day, maybe even twenty. All people were seeing was MNR Catering.” Her first major boost came through a Black History Month giveaway in February 2019. “A lot of people participated, and it helped me get followers,” she says. One participant, an employee at Ford Canada, posted photos of the jerk chicken, rice and peas, and coleslaw she had catered. “They started tagging me, and people were like, ‘Wow, Ford ordered food,’ not realizing it was a giveaway.” Her follower count multiplied overnight, and orders quickly followed. That organic growth strategy eventually led to her being booked every weekend for birthday parties, bridal showers, weddings, and funerals. And she brought her son along for the journey. “He was four. I’d pack him with me to drop off orders. I’d show him how to roll the forks. Sometimes he’d complain, like, ‘Why are these people ordering so much food from you?’” Those early weekends laid the groundwork for the brand she would soon scale.Generosity also became part of Rochester’s brand identity. During Canadian Thanksgiving, she gave away smoked turkeys, a meat her grandfather introduced her to. “I knew I wasn’t a millionaire, but I was further than where I started. I could at least give away five turkeys.” Giveaways became a growth engine. When she realized that mothers were her primary audience demographic, she created a Mother’s Day basket for a mom in need that included diapers, clothing, bottles, and other essential baby items. Her audience multiplied again. Then the city of Toronto shut down during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Events stopped overnight, and Rochester had to pivot. Customers began asking why she wasn’t offering meal preps or individual dinners. She listened to their feedback. Drawing on her McDonald’s work experience, she created themed daily menus Big Mac Monday-style, but with a Jamaican twist. “I had Rasta Pasta Saturdays, oxtail on Sundays, jerk chicken Fridays, pepper shrimp Thursdays.” She priced them affordably for ten dollars and made her own flyers on Canva. When the city reopened, she knew she needed to push visibility. She hit pop-up markets, sold food from her car, visited community centers, and handed out flyers. Her first pop-up was scrappy with dollar-store trays and a makeshift table. But she was not discouraged. She had saved for a stall at a flea market, but delays kept pushing back her opening. Frustrated, she asked for a refund and reinvested every dollar back into her business. “I bought warmer chafing dishes, florals, tablecloths,” she says. At her next pop-up, the presentation looked elevated, professional, and aligned with the premium culinary brand she was building.Once she pivoted to luxury Jamaican catering, demand grew faster than she could keep up with, and she needed help. At first, she leaned on family—her grandmother, mother, sisters, and friends. However, as bookings poured in every weekend, no one could commit to a long-term agreement. She turned to Indeed and made her first hire in June 2022. “That employee is still with me to this day,” she says. “It was just me and him struggling for at least two months. Then I thought, This is getting out of control. I’m growing too fast.” She began hiring aggressively as requests poured in from all over the Greater Toronto Area. Her momentum grew from people watching her story unfold in real time. “Every time I had an event, I took pictures and videos and posted them. I didn’t care if it was ugly. I just posted all the time.” She has nearly 7,000 posts documenting her progression, an archive of growth that her customers have followed from the very beginning. As demand expanded beyond Caribbean clients, Rochester realized she needed to sharpen her business acumen. She began taking courses, studying catering businesses, and reading books to elevate her craft. Her experience working at Swiss Chalet and Harvey’s, along with the training she received through Cara University and Burger College to become a manager, suddenly became assets. “I started applying all that knowledge to my own business. I said, If I want to be a corporation, I have to think like one, even before I am one.” Not everyone understood though. “People used to make fun of me, saying, ‘Your business isn’t even that big and you’re acting like that,’” she recalls. “But I had to act the role before it existed.”Growth forced her leadership style to evolve. “Going from one employee to fifteen is different,” she says. Her first employee, who had once been her right-hand person, was promoted to lead the team. “He reports to me, and everyone reports to him. He’s so loyal.” She built a culture rooted in pride and hospitality. “We’re representing Jamaica, the food and the culture. Bold flavors and great customer service is what sets us apart.” Presentation mattered just as much as taste. “We give out thank-you cards, tailored mint candies, napkins, forks—branding was always key.” Her experience as both a restaurant employee and a manager shaped how she led employees. “I was able to give them great pay, great flexibility, and bonuses. We have Christmas parties, Christmas dinners. For their one-year anniversaries, I give certificates and gifts. I want it to feel like a family business.” It is. “They all call my grandmother ‘Grandma.’ It’s a family-knit MNR Catering.” Today, MNR Catering has grown into a suite of sister brands that span baked goods, ready-made meals, décor and event rentals, Caribbean beverages, music, and community work. Each one reflects Rochester’s creativity, Caribbean heritage, and commitment to serving her community. Through the Rochester Foundation, she sponsors her son’s soccer team, runs school-supply drives, and donates holiday toys and essentials, including feminine hygiene products, socks, and winter wear. Her “No Child Left Behind” initiative is especially personal, “it’s my way of giving what I once needed most,” she says. What began as a home-based catering hustle is now a rapidly growing Caribbean food ecosystem. Many of the goals Rochester once viewed as out of reach have come to life. “I didn’t realize how strong and powerful I was until I became an entrepreneur.”
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