We were lucky to catch up with Paula Gutierrez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Paula, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Originally the name was not this, when i started the name was Sabores de la Abuela, in honor of my grandmother, since as a child she shared the kitchen with me while she prepared her cakes that were later delivered to important hotels in the city. Not being entirely sure, it occurred to call my sister and decide between the two of us what was the right name. After several names and a verry longlist i decided to choose the current name Paula Sabores Argentinos, Paula because i am the one who bakes and Sabores Argentinos because through the flavors of my products i share a little of my culture. Be able to transmit my traditions and flavors through my desserts is verry important to me.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have a beautiful family with two daughters and my husband who are my support to be able to achieve what i do. I grew up helping my grandmother bake delicious pastries, this is how my passion for baking begun. A long time ago I started making decorated cakes for my daughter’s birthdays. Many of my friends liked them so much that they started asking me if i sold them, and that’s how i started in this world of pastries in Argentina. After a year, i started teaching cake decorating classes for the kids. That was a great success! The kids had fun and learned at the same time, being able to take home their own creations at the end of the day! Then, due to my husband’s work, we decided to move to Panama, where new challenges began for the whole family. They were two very interesting years, where we were able to learn a lot from different cultures, since Panama is a city where people from all over the world live, which has allowed us to meet wonderful people! After those two years, we moved to Minnesota, where a new world be waiting for us. New challenges, new culture, new people. When I move to Minnesota in 2016, I realized I wanted to keep my culture alive, especially for my family, that’s why I decided to start baking for my family and friends here in Minnesota. Though a lot of work, dedication and love Paula Sabores Argentinos was born. My first steps selling my products was to try to introduce Argentinian Flavors to the Farmers Market were can still find me every summer at the Stillwater Minnesota Farmer Market. It has a great challenge for me to introduce my products since most of them and their flavors are not familiar to the people in Minnesota. When the people usually come to the Farmers Market for the first time and see our products they are delighted for the presentation and for seeing something totally different. Paula Sabores Argentinos has a variety of products and flavors that you can’t find anywhere else, that is why it is so special and unique. From delicately decorated number and letter cake to fruit cakes, alfajores of various flavors, chocolate and meringue cakes and many others option, ideal for birthday, baptism, anniversaries and now we also offer desserts for your sweet table in individual size for your special events, for any occasion! all our products are fresh and without preservatives.
What I am most passionate about pastry is being able to create delicious and beautiful things with my oun hands to be able to share them with people. It excites me to know that I can be in every home, in every celebration, in every event that is important to each of us in our lives.
I feel that my clients are part of my inspiration and support, each message, each word telling me what they like about the products, that makes me want to be continue sharing the Argentinian Flavors!
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
I have looked for different ways to attract clients, it was not easy considering that the flavors are completely different, and we are still working on it today. Something that helped mae a lot and especially in Farmers Markets was offering free samples to attract more people and thus obtain future clients. With the arrival of the pandemic, people no longer left their homes to buy they products, but instead began to make their purchase online, which suddenly forced me to build my own website to attract new customer, offering delivery, with the convenience for of not having to leave their homes and just make a purchase with a click. Which turned out verry well, being able to generate new sales.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Social media was never my thing, however with the help of my daughters I opened my IG account. It was difficult at the beginning since I had to learn several things in a very short time. It was a great challenge to get an audience and it still is today. I started uploading content of interest, visually attractive and entertaining at the same time, I hade to be constant and publish almost every day to not lose views. IG is constantly updated so you learn new things every day. It was verry helpful for me to look at others pages similar to mine, to see what they published, what tipe of music, if they published photos or videos, reels ,etc. If someone comets or ask questions, always respond as soon as possible, those are things that helped me and still help me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.paulasaboresargentinos.com
- Instagram: @paulasaboresargentinos
- Facebook: @paulasaboresargentinos