We were lucky to catch up with Helga Berta recently and have shared our conversation below.
Helga, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
While growing up in Hungary, I was diagnosed with celiac disease as a child in the early 2000s. Wether it was lack of education or care, my parents unfortunately continued to feed me gluten regardless of my diagnosis. This took a big toll on my health. After moving to the US and being on my own, I started eating gluten free and taking care of myself. It was a long road of building my immune system back up. I started cooking and baking for myself more and more to ensure that my food was truly gluten free. I had always had a passion for baking and really enjoyed creating food and sharing it with others. I moved to San Diego at the end of 2023. I started looking for different options for bakeries, certain items and I found that they were lacking many things. After talking to the community for a while, I decided to start a cottage food operation and sell my gluten free baked goods. There are many options for vegan and gluten free bakeries, but not so many that focus on and trying to excel just gluten free. I started creating from breads, desserts to custom cakes. Seeing people enjoy my baking has been amazing. One thing that truly warms my heart is seeing parents order items for the children, and see them take their allergies seriously. I was lacking that growing up, so being a part of making people and children’s life a little bit better is so rewarding!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Growing up my father was a pastry chef. I inherited the passion of baking from him. Before starting my business and truly getting into baking, I worked many positions in the food industry. Busser, barista, bartender, server, cook and restaurant manager to name a few. These positions have given me an insight into customer service and running a business, solving problems. With the experience gathered throughout the years, I started my own business of baking gluten free goods.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I had an interest in social media years ago. I used to live in New York City and photography was my passion. My first instagram page was dedicated to my photographs. That account has taught me a lot. I helped other businesses with their social media, including the restaurant I had managed for 3 years. Being able to take professional photos myself, and having some knowledge on social media has been very helpful. Another avenue that has been successful for my business is finding local Facebook groups dedicated towards the niche of your business. I have gotten many customers through these groups.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The gluten free food industry is a tough market. There are so many brands out there, but not so many of them actually taste good. I have taken my time to create products that are high quality. I use the most expensive gluten free flour that is out there, and I swear by it. I go by what works for me and stick to it. You can always expect the same quality of products and consistency from me. While using high quality ingredients, I still try to keep my prices affordable, since gluten free groceries are already very expensive, and many places like to upcarge a lot for gluten free options and substitutions. It is hard enough for people with allergies already, my goal is to make it a little bit easier, affordable and sell products that are not easy to find, and offer customization.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bakedbyhelga
