A decade ago, Halima Mohamed’s sister, Mariam, showed up at her house with a big idea — and a business partner.
Alongside Matt Glover, Mariam proposed launching a company rooted in a beloved Somali staple: sambusas. The goal wasn’t just to bring the savory pastries to a wider audience, but to empower Somali mothers through employment, celebrate their cooking talents, and share Somali cuisine and culture with the Twin Cities.
That company became Hoyo, which means “mother” in Somali — a name honoring the women at the heart of the business. Since its founding in 2015, Hoyo has grown steadily from its original 750-square-foot kitchen in Bloomington, where sambusas were handmade and packaged by Somali women using a recipe developed by Halima.
On June 17, Hoyo celebrated the grand opening of its new production facility in the lower level of the Midtown Global Market, nearly tripling its footprint to 3,000 square feet. “We’re expecting to make more,” said co-founder Halima Mohamed…