Cacao Fino de Aroma - Villakuyaya Chocolate

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Tania Terminello, Owner of Villakuyaya Chocolate, located in Bardonia, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Villakuyaya is a woman-owned business. We launched our company nine years ago with the mission to produce dark and milk chocolate bars under the best quality standards from the harvest of the best cacao bean, "Cacao Fino de Aroma," in Ecuador to the final product that you received in your hands.

My clients are lovers of good chocolate, and they are people who have an interest in learning about the origins, types, and percentages of cocoa, people who are delighted with tasting and love to discover flavors and aromas in each piece of chocolate.

But my clients are also children and young people who, without any experience, savored and discovered flavors that they had no idea could appear on their palates with a piece of chocolate.

Tell us about yourself

My passion for creating has always been the engine for many of my entrepreneurial projects. I graduated as an architect back in 2014 and started my own studio and a brick factory. That was my first step as a businesswoman; however, I found the joy of business in chocolate.

I discovered from my grandmother her knowledge to give a breath of life through seeds, plants, and fruits, and she always said that nature gives us the power to feed the soul and health with all that we can harvest. That is where she began mixing spices, fruits, and dry aromatic flowers. I never realized that all the shared experiences I had with my grandmother and the cocoa at the time would come back into my life later on. The memories of eating the cacao seed pulp, toasting it in the crock, and the cocoa powder with the hot milk. All reminding me of the kindness in her heart, her love for her grandkids, and her respect for nature.

Today my motivation is to spread the knowledge and history behind the chocolate bar, and also show every girl and woman that we have an inner warrior to create wonderful things, and nobody can stop us from doing it, and that everything is in our hands. And the most important motivation is to let my legacy of love and kindness to my little son Samuel in the same way my parents taught me - work hard and show honesty and loyalty to all people.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I think Villakuyaya show me how to have joy in everything that we do, and my accomplishment is waking up every day and enjoying my business.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

When you are a wife, mom, and business owner, I think the hard thing is balancing time because when you start, you don't have much budget to hire employees, and most of the time, you have to do everything, so at the time when I had my little boy I decided to make a pause on Villakuyaya and give all the time that my baby needed. Nowadays, things are getting better; having and managing more time for the business, the decision to hire some help was the best for Villakuyaya and me because it allowed me to distribute more time as a wife and mom.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Put all the ideas on paper and see which ones are achievable and which ones are just dreams.
Carry out a market analysis that you want to undertake, and investigate all the legal and accounting requirements that your business will require.
Be advised by people with greater knowledge, both in legal and financial issues, because those are the fundamental keys.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.villakuyaya.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/villakuyaya/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/villakuyaya/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/villakuyaya/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/villakuyaya-chocolate-721492ba/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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