Sofia DeLeon
El Merkury | Philadelphia
FEBRUARY 2024
Born and raised in Guatemala, Sofia DeLeon’s entrepreneurial spirit was born out of a love of food. As a child, walking through local markets with her grandmother, DeLeon was fascinated by the colorful produce, vendors making masa from scratch, and customers negotiating with sellers for their goods. Noticing her interest, her brother bought her an ice cream machine. DeLeon started to whip up flavors they couldn’t find in the store and sold her creations at school—before being shut down by her teachers. As she grew up, she realized she had a knack for both cooking and sales, and wanted to bring the two together.
After working a few catering jobs, DeLeon decided that if she was ever going to open a restaurant, she needed a strong background in business, not just food. She moved to the United States at age 17 to attend Michigan State University and earned a degree in food industry management. She went on to work for consumer packaged goods companies as a distributor, marketer, and broker, but left to get an MBA in food marketing at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
In 2016, amidst a wave of anti-immigrant vitriol, DeLeon noticed both a need and an opportunity to showcase Central American food in Philadelphia. She quit her job and started hosting pop-ups—in office lobbies and various kitchens across the city—to prove her concept. DeLeon opened the first location of El Merkury in May 2018, and the second in 2021, marrying her business savvy with her culinary expertise. For her, El Merkury is about representation and bringing the cuisines of often overlooked Central American countries to her customers. In 2023, DeLeon also launched her latest venture, Tenango Rum, which partners with female Guatemalan artisans.
