We were lucky to catch up with Cynthia Muir recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cynthia, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

I am a Peruvian chef and in Peru we cook everything from scratch with fresh ingredients since Peru is one of the countries that has the best gastronomy and variety of ingredients in the world. When I arrived in Florida and initially worked in some restaurants, I was surprised to find that many of the ingredients they use are packaged, pre-cooked, and even canned vegetables.
That’s when I decided to do things differently in the food and beverage industry. At Exotic Gourmet we use fresh ingredients and put quality before quantity. When I analyzed the competition, I realized that there is a lot of food that is wasted.
At Exotic Gourmet, with our fusion cuisine menu, we also make a difference. Our flavors are unique and tasty.
Another part of our catering is the design. We customize all our stations to the client’s taste, taking into account the theme and colors. in the end we present a masterpiece.
I think that most caterers focus on just serving food.
We put together a puzzle and create a true visual, artistic and culinary experience.I am a Peruvian chef and in Peru we cook everything from scratch with fresh ingredients since Peru is one of the countries that has the best gastronomy and variety of ingredients in the world. When I get to Florida, I initially worked in some restaurants, I was surprised to find that many of the ingredients they use are pre-cooked and ready to eat, even the vegetables like carrots, green beans, corn etc.
That’s when I decided to do things differently in the food and beverage industry. At Exotic Gourmet we use fresh ingredients and put quality before quantity, I also realized that there is a lot of food that is wasted.
At Exotic Gourmet, with our fusion cuisine menu, we also make a difference. Our flavors are unique and tasty.
Another part of our catering is the design. We customize all our stations to the client’s taste, taking into account the theme and colors. in the end we present a masterpiece.
I think that most caterers focus on just serving food.
We put together a puzzle and create a true visual, artistic and culinary experience.

Cynthia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I arrived to Florida in 2017, I never imagined that I would stay, get married, and start my business from scratch in a new country, since in Peru I already had my catering business , a restaurant and chocolate company. So I started this new adventure here. At the beginning, like everything, it was difficult and if we add to that the pandemic, my plans were delayed for two years, but every effort has its fruits. In 2022 I opened Exotic Gourmet catering and with its innovative cuisine and exquisite presentations, we have grown a lot.

I started just making dessert tables and deliveries by myself, now in just 2 years we are providing full catering, bartender and dessert services, plus decoration and we work with the best vendors, and I already have my team, we do all kinds of events but the most challenging are weddings, that is where we see every detail of the celebration and where it is very easy for problems to arise since there are many details to cover, but we have known how to solve each one of them, since here in Florida the most difficult thing is the rain, the heat, the wind, and the hurricanes of course!, you always have to have a plan B, also be prepared for cancellations and rescheduled events,

I am very proud of myself and what I have been able to achieve in just two years, being from another country and learning a new language, and from there pass all my knowledge to my team, without them I would not be able to continue growing.

And for the next 2 years we expect to double the growth, but the idea of ​​Exotic Gourmet is to maintain its essence, quality and hospitality.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I started, I did it by selling my chocolates online and in markets, so maybe some of you will find it strange but I always tell this story because it’s mine and it’s true! You can start with just $100 that’s how I started. I bought my own wrappers for my chocolates and supplies for my first orders, after that I sold them, and what I earned I reinvested. After that I growth making dessert tables for events.

My policy is that you have to pay me a month before the event, so I used part of the money to reinvest, and that’s how I started buying inventory. Of course at the beginning nothing went into my pocket, all the money earned was investment.
Them I asked for a business credit card, with that I started buying things from events already booked. And so to this day, I have no loans or debts and I already generate profits, so now that I know that the company has constant income, I’m looking to take the next step.

And I’ll tell you something! I did things like this here, starting little by little and without asking for loans, because in Peru I had already made many mistakes at a very early age in my 20s I already had many loans and debts, and you have to learn from your mistakes, now first I see if the business works and from there I invest. It is not enough to have talent in what you do to be able to sell and borrow money, and neither if you have money to invest, you should not start a business perhaps just because someone else did well and you think it is a profitable business, those are the two mistakes that I see people who want to start a business make over and over again.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

Well at the beginning and forever I think, marketing is a part of a business that never stops, but coming from another country without knowing anything about the market where I was, you have to start somewhere until you see which one works for you, and that implies that you are going to lose money, at the beginning when every penny counts, I made the mistake of signing up and signing a contract for a year with a company that promised me that it would give me many clients a month, which all turned out to be scams, I lost money that I didn’t have, but thanks to that I learned a lot, now the number one marketing strategy is networking events. That’s what has worked the most for me, contact with people, now I have a business coach who gives me strategies to sell and what’s trending, like Instagram, TikTok and where you should and how to invest in those platforms, since social media has a high impact on my growth as a business.
Now I have gone from selling chocolates at $2 each to selling catering for events of $10k and $20k, as I mentioned before nothing happens out of nowhere, you have to work and educate yourself a lot, and it is something that has to be constant, and there are many mistakes and loss of money but it is the only way to know which one works for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.exoticgourmetcatering.com
• Instagram: @exoticgourmetcaterer
• Facebook: Exotic Gourmet
• Other: Pinterest and Tiktok @exoticgourmetcaterer

Image Credits

Deanna Grace Photography