A migrant from Kherson opened a confectionery shop in Odesa, where she bakes French desserts

Alina Shapoval, a migrant from Kherson, opened a confectionery shop in Odesa. Photo: Suspilne

Alina Shapoval, a resident of Kherson, has been operating a confectionery shop in Odesa for over a year. The entrepreneur makes French desserts for coffee shops, and opened the shop with grant funds.

This is discussed in the report of Suspilne.

Alina started her pastry business at home in Kherson. At first, she prepared desserts at night in her home kitchen. Later, she was invited to the position of pastry chef in a chain of coffee shops.

After the war and two months of occupation in Kherson, Alina and her husband moved to Odesa. In the summer of 2022, they started their own business without any initial investment. They looked for their first clients among coffee shops. In 2023, they applied for a grant and received 250 thousand hryvnias.

«With the grant, we purchased stainless steel surfaces, an osmosis system, sinks, hoods, and raw material supplies. And we paid the rent for half a year. But this grant must be returned with taxes. That is, this means that the enterprise must operate for three years, two years with hired employees, these are mandatory conditions,» the confectioner said.

However, this amount turned out to be insufficient. So they developed a business plan, prepared documents, and received a second grant for IDPs from the French organization Acted. As the entrepreneur says, this allowed them to purchase professional equipment: refrigerators, a cream mixer, a dishwasher, and a printer for drawing on macaron desserts.

According to her, success begins with a clear business model and gradual development. In total, about one million hryvnias were invested in launching the business.

A migrant from Kherson opened a confectionery shop in Odessa where she bakes French desserts. Photo: Suspilne

The pastry chef says she chose macaron dessert as her main focus because of its creative possibilities. Today, the pastry shop offers 100 different flavors of dessert. The range also includes cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and gingerbread.

The entrepreneur continues to develop and dreams of opening a pastry shop abroad.

«And by the way, I would probably like to open it in the format of a cafe-confectionery. So that people would come there and there would be a place to sit. Warm and cozy,» she concluded.

Let us remind you that a family from Mykolaiv, who moved to the Lviv region due to the war, created a nut processing business.