My
name is Ragaa Fakhouri, known as (R77aga Delight Gelato), married with
two kids. This article is not only about my challenging business venture
& how I was inspired to launch it, but its about my NEVER ENDING
STORY! The story was living within me since I was a teenager who
loved eating sweet desserts & high quality fresh food. My addiction
to food was influenced by my mum (Elen Abdel Malik) who was a great home
cook for five kids & their dad (Shakir Abdalla, RIP) who did not
like resuarants foods beacuse he was a fussy eater.
Day by day in SUDAN, my mum would cook for all of us different dishes plus all the business parties that my dad will host at home for his overseas dealers, suppliers, bank managers, friends & family members. My mum uses all the fresh ingredients to bake different cookies, bread, patisserie etc, the house would smell awsome & neighbours were always delighted as they had a share of her good cooking & baking. Not only two ovens in the kitchen we had but my mum insisted to build two outdoor traditional brick wood-fired ovens , this was a great idea but at the same time extra work as her friends would come by to learn the skills of baking on all kinds of cookies especially in Easter & Christmas plus other occasions.
No guest has been invited to our house without being overwelmed with my Mum & Dad's extra generous hospitality of high quality food. The kitchen was operating nearly 18 hours a day plus we had extra food storage in our bedrooms where we treat ourselves & sneak at night when we are hungry! By nature I am always hungry & craving for different types of food & desserts, therefore it is a priority! Living in a hot country (SUDAN) my dad would only treat us to a special farm (KHAFOURI) where they produce the best quality organic ice cream with different unique flavours. Yes, you quessed it right, this is when my addiction of ice cream has started & never ended!
Living in the UK did not stop me from eating ice cream in Summer, Autum, Spring & Winter. My freezer would be loaded with different flavours of ice cream & only branded ones. When I have guests in my house they would be served ice cream for dessert but with bits of extras like cake, biscuits, toppings etc.
IN 2011 one of the Bishops from Egypt (Anba Fam El Fayoumy) visited our house, of-course I served him ice cream for dessert & he loved it. Suddenly he said to me since you love ice cream why dont you produce it yourself! At that time I was researching to set up a business for my husband not me! In no time I started making my own home made ice cream, but while researching I decided to make Italian ice cream (Gelato) as it is intense in flavours & is only produced with high quality fresh ingredients as well as less fat content. After all the courses I have attended, I made a final decision & set up my business R77aga Delight Ltd in 2012 but wanted to be unique with artisan themed & customised gelato cakes.
I recieved a great support from my family i.e. my sisters who were my first customers, colleaques at work (Marks & Spencer), families from around the world including my husband's family, different communities from my kids Roman Catholic schools, Coptic Orthodox church community, Liberal Democrate councillers, Entrepreneurs etc.
My customers then requested more products like cakes, cupcakes, patisseris etc Therefore I started using my mum's traditional methods of baking but modifed some recipes to suit the modern taste buds & presented it with a unique way of packaging.
Images on facebook http://www.facebook.com/R77aga has driven sales & attracted many
fans as well as engaged many followers plus friends. Other social media
has also stengthened the business presence i.e. Twitter http://www.twitter.com/RagaaFakhouri, Instagram http://www.instagram.com/r77agadelight,
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/r77aga & Youtube http://www.youtube.com/ragaa7.
Working in Marks & Spencer (Brent Cross)
has supported me a lot when I have organised many charity events including Macmillan cancer support & Breast Cancer Awareness,Help For Heroes, Food international day etc & brought so much of our products to sell to staff which has been very successful by raising nearly £3000. This has converted my colleagues to be my existing customers who are always keen to see my products in these charity events.
Since it is a business within the food industry, I have completed the required food hygiene certificate, insurance & registered with the Food standard & Safety management Health Environmental authority where they rated us last year with 4* As it is a challenging business I am always developing, progressing our products with innovative ideas & recipes. Listening to customers feedback always drives your business forward, plus it builds a great reputation for the business & this is a strategy which I have implemented & will continue doing it.
My passion to food has driven me a long way to establish this business of R77aga Delight http://www.r77agadelight.co.uk. Market research is always on top of my list searching for gaps in the market, therefore I have created a new light sponge cake filled with fresh cream & fruits topped with unique passion fruit ganache or pomegranate ganache. Another top & most popular flavour was Ferrero Rocher with Baiyles/Biscotti flavour gelato cake, also unique cupcakes topped with chocolate hazelnut/baileys ganache.
We produce varieties of flavoured buttercream topping of filling for cakes including pina colada, pink guave, mango, pistachio etc. I love thoroughly producing Gelato, baking cakes, cupcakes & patisserie. The most delightful time when I am decorating cakes for special occasions, because a well designed cake would always leave a remarkable & unforgetable memory.
#business #startup #launch #entrepreneur #woman #strategy #businessplan #innovation #perseverance #determination #gelato #italian #cake #cupcakes #desserts #delight #patiserrie #chocolate
Day by day in SUDAN, my mum would cook for all of us different dishes plus all the business parties that my dad will host at home for his overseas dealers, suppliers, bank managers, friends & family members. My mum uses all the fresh ingredients to bake different cookies, bread, patisserie etc, the house would smell awsome & neighbours were always delighted as they had a share of her good cooking & baking. Not only two ovens in the kitchen we had but my mum insisted to build two outdoor traditional brick wood-fired ovens , this was a great idea but at the same time extra work as her friends would come by to learn the skills of baking on all kinds of cookies especially in Easter & Christmas plus other occasions.
No guest has been invited to our house without being overwelmed with my Mum & Dad's extra generous hospitality of high quality food. The kitchen was operating nearly 18 hours a day plus we had extra food storage in our bedrooms where we treat ourselves & sneak at night when we are hungry! By nature I am always hungry & craving for different types of food & desserts, therefore it is a priority! Living in a hot country (SUDAN) my dad would only treat us to a special farm (KHAFOURI) where they produce the best quality organic ice cream with different unique flavours. Yes, you quessed it right, this is when my addiction of ice cream has started & never ended!
Living in the UK did not stop me from eating ice cream in Summer, Autum, Spring & Winter. My freezer would be loaded with different flavours of ice cream & only branded ones. When I have guests in my house they would be served ice cream for dessert but with bits of extras like cake, biscuits, toppings etc.
IN 2011 one of the Bishops from Egypt (Anba Fam El Fayoumy) visited our house, of-course I served him ice cream for dessert & he loved it. Suddenly he said to me since you love ice cream why dont you produce it yourself! At that time I was researching to set up a business for my husband not me! In no time I started making my own home made ice cream, but while researching I decided to make Italian ice cream (Gelato) as it is intense in flavours & is only produced with high quality fresh ingredients as well as less fat content. After all the courses I have attended, I made a final decision & set up my business R77aga Delight Ltd in 2012 but wanted to be unique with artisan themed & customised gelato cakes.
I recieved a great support from my family i.e. my sisters who were my first customers, colleaques at work (Marks & Spencer), families from around the world including my husband's family, different communities from my kids Roman Catholic schools, Coptic Orthodox church community, Liberal Democrate councillers, Entrepreneurs etc.
My customers then requested more products like cakes, cupcakes, patisseris etc Therefore I started using my mum's traditional methods of baking but modifed some recipes to suit the modern taste buds & presented it with a unique way of packaging.
Since it is a business within the food industry, I have completed the required food hygiene certificate, insurance & registered with the Food standard & Safety management Health Environmental authority where they rated us last year with 4* As it is a challenging business I am always developing, progressing our products with innovative ideas & recipes. Listening to customers feedback always drives your business forward, plus it builds a great reputation for the business & this is a strategy which I have implemented & will continue doing it.
My passion to food has driven me a long way to establish this business of R77aga Delight http://www.r77agadelight.co.uk. Market research is always on top of my list searching for gaps in the market, therefore I have created a new light sponge cake filled with fresh cream & fruits topped with unique passion fruit ganache or pomegranate ganache. Another top & most popular flavour was Ferrero Rocher with Baiyles/Biscotti flavour gelato cake, also unique cupcakes topped with chocolate hazelnut/baileys ganache.
We produce varieties of flavoured buttercream topping of filling for cakes including pina colada, pink guave, mango, pistachio etc. I love thoroughly producing Gelato, baking cakes, cupcakes & patisserie. The most delightful time when I am decorating cakes for special occasions, because a well designed cake would always leave a remarkable & unforgetable memory.
#business #startup #launch #entrepreneur #woman #strategy #businessplan #innovation #perseverance #determination #gelato #italian #cake #cupcakes #desserts #delight #patiserrie #chocolate
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