He created a brand of healthy food for boys and girls

He is the entrepreneur behind Healthy Gastronomic Business Idea, which saves time and contributes to the good health of the little ones in the household.

Photo: Courtesy Tutun

“Our products are suitable for babies as young as 6 months old, once they start giving supplements, up to about 4 years old. Snacks are adapted for children up to 10 years old. It’s a practical, healthy alternative to which we add our secret ingredient: time.

Our sales are done one by one, we reach the end customer, the mother who works all day and comes home without cooking, who has no idea of ​​cooking, who wants the best for her kids Whatever she wants, she goes on vacation without worrying about feeding her kids. At present, we cover 3 cities, Cali, Medellin and Bogotá and we are close to impressing others, always guaranteeing a cold chain of products”, these are the words of the three founders of the healthy gastronomic enterprise Tutun who over time. Saves and contributes to the good health of the little ones in the household.

we talk to them 23 Questions for Entrepreneurs and Their Businesses And this was the tour he gave us for his business idea.

1. How old am I? that I studied?

Natalia, 57 years old, chef Cordon Bleu from Paris

Laura, 35 years old, industrial designer

Juliana, 32 years old, industrial designer

2. What was my idea and when was it born? What was it that I made?

Natalia had a deep-frozen food business for adults. Laura and Juliana became mothers at the same time and we set up a trip to introduce complementary feeding so that they would heat their babies’ meals and prepare them to eat on the go. It was in 2018 when we started doing this and then we kept dreaming about this idea because actually thinking about good nutrition and health of our kids cooking 3 times a day is exhausting and even more so if you have to work. Go on and you arrive weary. We started testing and at that stage we went for 6 months, till October 2019, we decided to launch Tutun; Deep frozen healthy food for kids, without preservatives, without salt, without sugar and without gluten. It was almost impossible to bring such products to market and everything for babies is loaded with preservatives and chemicals that are not good for them, much less in the initial stage of feeding.

3. How did I manage to make this a reality and bring it down to the facts?

We work by testing recipes, molds, timing, duration, absolutely everything to create a perfect product that kids and parents will love. We optimize a space to give customers confidence. Where you cook is a suitable and reliable place to feed babies. We found suppliers of vegetables, ingredients, equipment and started making Tobacco reality.

If you are looking for more stories of startups, their creators and creators are here, in entrepreneurship and leadership of the audience.

4. Where did I get the money to start it and how did I pay for it?

At first we had two teams from which to start Natalia and Later Each contributed an initial amount to be able to obtain the necessary inputs and other materials to do the work. From what we sold, gradually we were buying inputs to continue production.

5. What am I getting from my business? What am I changing in my mind?

In Tobacco We exist to show that being a mother is an act of courage. Here we believe in our dreams, the ones we want for our lives and those who run barefoot around the house. We portray ourselves as moms who understand that working and raising kids are two full-time jobs, and that’s why we set out to make life easier for those who need a day-to-day hand. needed. We do what we do because we are convinced that a healthy diet is the key to a bright future and a healthy body, but, above all, this is the most important opportunity not to choose between mothers and women who pursue their dreams. Huh.

6. Am I happy?

Much more, we know that the undertaking has cost us a lot of effort, time and even tears, but a delicious and fresh product for our eaters, practicality and being able to give moms time Cause that’s worth the gold.

7. Shall I sell my enterprise, my company?

It’s something we’ve pondered on many a time when we see everything turn upside down, it’s not easy, but Tobacco It has brought out the best of us. When we’re in the worst of moments, we receive messages and testimonials that get us back on track and create more products, solve problems, or one of the three of us is super motivated and gives us a chance to entrepreneurship. Shows the good side. we love TobaccoWe have taken care to do everything with so much love, that it is difficult to decide.

8. How difficult was this task for me?

At the time, we were working on something else, when we started testing, being a mom is a full-time job and being an entrepreneur literally means having another kid. So we had to multiply ourselves between the three tasks without leaving home, family and what to do.

9. Did I fulfill my dream? what am i missing?

Let’s say we accomplished a significant percentage in terms of entrepreneurship, another percentage in making mothers and their children happy. Now, we are in the process of acquiring more personnel to build and manufacture a larger space, acquire machinery and cope. Another dream is to ship nationwide without changing the product, guaranteeing a cold chain.

read on: She created a vegan ice cream brand to improve her eating habits

10. Now what? What will happen next?

Plant Tobacco And the creation of new products to solve more stages of children’s feeding.

11. Is my business scalable?

Of course, we currently have distributors in Bogotá, Medellin and Cali, as soon as we can solve the cold chain transportation, we will eventually open more cities.

12. To grow, would you get investment from a stranger? will i give you part of my company,

Not at the moment, we believe that this call for capital would be a hasty decision, which would mean giving up part of the company and we do not consider this a possibility.

13. What will you never do again?

Trying to do or cover areas in which we have no control or knowledge without asking for help, advice or the right person. On the other hand, look carefully at the people we want to add to our team, not add and subtract. We believe that an activist outside of our line, mission and the desire with which we work can greatly change the outcome, we want to move forward, not lag behind.

14. Who inspired me? Whom would I like to follow?

We have a father and a mother who led us with the family business we built together from 0, today that company has been on the market for 30 years. We have the dedication, perseverance and kindness of my mother; My father’s honesty, mind and strength, with all the tools and values ​​we had when we were young. We have seen them work, fight for their dreams and wake up every morning with the best of spirit to give their 100%.

15. Did I fail at some point? Did I think about throwing in the towel?

Many times we remove products that were not so well received and we remove several from the menu at a given point in time. Working as a family has been quite a challenge as everyone has their own personality and way of doing things which sometimes clash, however, we have managed it. We obviously don’t think about throwing in the towel and continuing, we get frustrated with many things, but the important thing is to get up and start over as often as necessary.

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16. Am I part of some kind of community that supports me on this path of undertaking?

Not now, we follow many people who have guided us or helped us along the way, enterprises or companies like Mass Brownie Which shows a lot of their process and encourages us to keep going.

17. Is what I am doing beyond? Will it be able to affect the new generations?

Absolutely, our products are made for babies from 6 months when they start AC till about 4 years old. For snacks, the age becomes more or less than 10 years. In Colombia we are currently in a baby boom and many babies are born who can feed themselves with our products, if their mother chooses that way. Then we will think about bringing products for older kids and why not for adults.

18. How do I see myself in 10 years and how do I see my enterprise, my company, in the future?

While addressing the issue of feeding our children in a healthy way, we will continue to open avenues and reach family homes. For adults to be able to venture into products for more ages and stages, it would be the complete combo to feed a family.

19. What role have my family and friends played?

They are the most important support in the first phase of the enterprise, usually the first friends and family buy from you or recommend you, but they have also run in with ideas or help when we need it. We always get their support in terms of marketing, new ideas, improvements, implementations, and this has been essential in our process.

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20. I made it. Will you help other entrepreneurs achieve this?

Of course, not only in our field, which is food, but also in processes, communication, thoughts, even guiding them to walk the path in a simple way.

21. What role did my team play? Who?

Very important and important for every member of our team. Natalia is Chef Cordon Bleu from Paris, she is constantly training with food courses to be at the forefront of new techniques and processes. Laura is in charge of the financial part, the numbers, the cost and she is very strict with it. Juliana, the creative mind of Tobacco, who has been in charge of the visual and marketing part of the company. The ladies in the kitchen, with their flair and wisdom, have helped us move the man in charge of offices and homes to deliver the products in perfect condition, guaranteeing good product protection. We all contribute a grain of sand to our entrepreneurship.

22. What is my personal seal? What sets me apart from others?

Deep freezing and separate portions. Unlike traditional freezing, deep freezing occurs much faster. The food is subjected to a drop in temperature of up to -30 degrees, which causes microcrystals to form inside the cells and, when thawed, cause no loss of fluid, where most of the nutrients are found. . This process allows us to deliver food, while retaining its texture, smell, taste and moisture as if it had been prepared immediately, fresh and delicious. And speaking of parts, we deliver 22-gram coins, which you can change based on age; If he is 6 months old, then 1 coin, and as the baby grows, more portions are added. This makes it adaptable to different ages and thus we save the world of a mother and a child with one plate at a time.

23. What have I learned from all this?

Perseverance and perseverance, if we want something, we have to work hard for it and don’t have to wait for it to come. Waking up every day with an extra motivation, apart from our kids, to pursue something that we have created from scratch and that solves the lives of mothers and gives them a bright future by providing healthy food to children, all is the key. We are grateful to the families who have opened the doors of their homes for us, have given us their vote of confidence and are invaluable to us.

If you know the stories of entrepreneurs and their ventures, write to us at Edwin Bohorquez Aya’s email ([email protected]) or Tatiana Gomez Fuentes ([email protected])