Meet the women entrepreneurs finalists in the Gastronomy that Transforms category of the 2023 Bom Gourmet Award

Women entrepreneurs in Brazil are a veritable crowd. Data from 2019 from Sebrae and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) show that 26 million Brazilian women were doing business. A projection of that number for 2023 points to more than 30 million. In every business created by a woman, there is a story, which often involves overcoming a series of obstacles.

The Gastronomy that Transforms category Bom Gourmet Award 2023created in partnership with Clube da Alice, was conceived to celebrate the initiatives of women entrepreneurs in Paraná’s gastronomy, giving visibility to these stories.

The category was divided into three stages: in the first, which began on May 23rd and lasted until June 11th, women who are part of the Clube da Alice community registered in the category; in the second phase, a panel of judges made up of professionals nominated by the organization of the Bom Gourmet Award, by Clube da Alice and by entities in the sector, selected, among the more than 30 entries, five stories that most represent the motto of the category “Gastronomy that Transform”; and the last stage is the popular vote, which begins this Tuesday (27th) and runs until the 11th of July. To vote, just go to premiobomgourmet.com.br

“Making the finalists was very difficult, because all the stories had a beautiful side that touched us in some way”, says Mônica Berlitz, founder of Clube da Alice. Along with Mônica, the jury committee was made up of: Rafaela Boza, Sebrae/PR consultant; Jaqueline Borges, businesswoman; Henrique Cassins, Head of FoodCo (education and community foodtech for gastronomy entrepreneurs); and Millena Prado, Head of GazzConecta (Pinó’s innovation and technology platform).

“All stories are wonderful, each with its challenges and obstacles. The finalists are there for details that made them stand out from the rest. However, they are not there because they were better than the others, but they are in this final representing the others”, says Rafaela.

Bom Gourmet talked to the five finalists and tells a little about their story so you can prepare your vote! You can vote as many times as you like. In addition to the Gastronomy that Transforms category, the Sabor Popular do Prêmio Bom Gourmet has another 27 categories, of different flavors in the city, for you to choose the best in the city’s gastronomy! Click here and vote!

Andressa Lima – Andressa Lima Coffee

From a very early age Andressa was already in the field of gastronomy. At the age of 15, his first job was rolling brigadeiros and, later, he started working in a bakery company. She even opened her own bakery, but ended up closing that business.

The setback did not diminish the desire to work in the field. Seven years later, it opened the delivery of coffee break and colonial coffee with the help of her children and her husband. “After the experience at the bakery, I started to understand more about the area and saw what I liked and what paid off. I started taking some courses and today we produce everything we offer in the coffee. I ended up learning and enjoying it a lot.”

The crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic, without events, forced Andressa to rethink the business. It was in this scenario that it started to offer individual kits for people to eat at home and kits for smaller parties. “This was a huge success and was very important for our history. I sold a lot more in the pandemic than any other time before. It was at this moment that my business was consolidated”, she says.

All of Andressa’s income currently comes from coffee and her team is made up exclusively of women, from production to deliveries. “I really like the impact of supporting each other. We are seven women directly involved in the business and I try to buy packaging, cards and other products for coffee from other entrepreneurs”, she explains. “I love the pleasure of hard work and knowing that the affection of food arrives in each customer”, she adds.

Camila Domingues | little piece of heaven

A mother at 16, Camila saw sweets as an opportunity to help with household expenses. She started making chocolates at Christmas, following her mother’s ‘spoon truffle’ recipe, and saw that she had a vocation and pleasure in sweetening people’s daily lives.

But the journey as an entrepreneur is permeated with ups and downs. She made the sweets at home with the help of her husband in deliveries, when, in February 2018, the hitherto ‘Império do Brigadeiro’, grew and left the kitchen for its first store. “When we were moving to a bigger store, my father had his first stroke, with many complications. Since then, there have been 19 strokes. Also during this period, my mother had cancer and the maintenance of the house came to depend entirely on me”, she recalls.

Despite family health issues, the business continued to grow: in 2020 there were already 4 stores. “Right at the height of the pandemic, I got pregnant and it was a difficult and risky pregnancy. When my second child was born, it was a turning point, at that moment I understood that I needed to change and slow down”.

And often change calls for restructuring. Taking a step back, Camila closed her last store in April of this year – and reinvented herself. “Now I have opened a delivery service and use a separate kitchen that I have at home. So, in addition to making people’s lives sweeter, I manage to take care of the children, my father and help my mother ”, she says. For this restart, Império do Brigadeiro also changed its name: now it’s ‘Pedacinho do Céu’. “We made this change for the sweets, but also for the feeling it brings, and even for the meaning that this new beginning has for me”.

Dani Chrisostomo | Dani Chrisostomo – Special Cakes

Credit: Lucy Lima| LUCY LIMA PHOTOGRAPHY

It was seeing her grandmother, during her childhood, appreciating the quality of what she served, that cooking became something natural for Dani. The loss of her father when she was only nine years old marked her life with its impact and sadness, but she ended up sowing even more the passion for confectionery. “I got from an aunt, to distract myself and ‘forget the sadness’, a little oven that baked cakes by the heat of the lamps. I would spend hours playing cake making,” she recalls.

Always curious, she liked to research and test new recipes, and her passion for cooking only increased. She decided to really invest in gastronomy when her dissatisfaction with her training profession, speech therapy, appeared. “I researched for months and the opportunity to take an online course in naked cake”, and then it all started, it’s been nine years”.

Dani went through another turbulent moment with the death of her husband, in 2022. Now the confectionery has definitely become a way to reframe life and guarantee income and personal and professional satisfaction.

All Naked Cakes are customized for each customer. Credit: Lucy Lima

This choice brought challenges, learning, discipline and made her always seek more. “Today, in addition to taking orders, I teach confectionery classes. From my hands and from my mind comes what I need. And I can only say thank you, ”she says. Currently, Dani bases her work on customizing what the customer will receive, seeking emotional information to make the cake, creating a sweet experience that becomes unforgettable.

Danielly Tavares | My Marmite Foot

In the gastronomy business for 3 years, Danielly Tavares’ dream began when, after struggling with the scales, she decided to make food her ally and not her enemy. “I started in the kitchen of my house, in a 40 m² apartment, two months before the pandemic. I didn’t even know what was coming ahead and how big it was going to be, even more so with a small child at home. I was really looking to change my reality”, he says. Breaking with the stereotype that she herself held that “healthy food is bad and tastes like medicine”, the entrepreneur began researching the frozen food market to understand what worked and what didn’t. “The dishes I make for my menu were thought about practicality, flavor and real food. I want to bring health and flavor to every dish,” she points out.

Danielly is the one who prepares all the lunchboxes.

Over time, the fridge at home became small and his dream got bigger and bigger. To deliver more quality, Danielly took a gastronomy course. “It was two and a half years during which I learned a lot, from choosing mixes and seasonings, cutting and freezing techniques, to choosing a product and a supplier”, he explains. Today, in a larger kitchen, Danielly continues to do everything herself, with great dedication and care, to bring the best to her client. His “war” with the scales ended and brought a new possibility of income and financial independence.

Justina Fardo | trinity

The Fardo Vinícola Family started selling wine directly to the public in 2014, but Justina saw an opportunity in the family business that went beyond the act of ‘selling wine’. “We offered wine to the people who visited us, but I started to think it wasn’t enough. Gastronomy was a desire, because I saw wine as a food supplement. So we started offering cold cuts, and in 2016, we created Trina,” she explains.

Justina developed the idea and sought to create a unique gastronomic experience for her customers. “I wanted to have small portions of hot food to replace cold food or as an alternative”, she says. In 2019, she started to develop a project for a small container kitchen, but, due to the pandemic, the inauguration was only held in June 2021.

Currently, those who visit the winery, located in Quatro Barras, in the metropolitan region of Curitiba, can taste wines paired with dishes prepared on site. The idea is to taste three glasses (white, rosé and red wine) with three different dishes.

At Trina they accompany hot and cold dishes.

Trina has cold and hot options and the team routinely tests new combinations to offer the consumer. “This whole experience that we create is something that really enchants. We always receive reports from customers saying that they feel gratified for being able to live this moment. And we were also gratified to be able to offer this different and gastronomic opportunity”, he concludes.

Vote for the best story

Now that you know a little more about the competitors in the Gastronomy that Transforms category, it’s time to cast your vote. Go to premiobomgourmet.com.br and vote as much as you like!