Together with her husband, she began producing pastila and dried fruits in 2020, when her children were suffering from vitamin deficiency. To replenish the lack of vitamins, Samara started making pastila and drying fruits. Gradually, thanks to acquaintances, her products began to sell, and during the pandemic, demand increased. “Now we offer 15 types of pastila — from pumpkin, raspberry, apples, apricots, beets, black currants, strawberries, and others. We also started producing dried herbal teas. From the very beginning, I registered as an individual entrepreneur and paid taxes. The wholesale price of pastila is 40 soms. We produce up to a thousand pieces a day. Our products are shipped to Kazakhstan, Russia, and in small volumes to Japan,” Samara shares.
She admits that running a business is not easy, and there are both successes and difficulties. “There were days when I cried... I love participating in fairs. There we can communicate with customers and promote our products. Usually, 70% of people who buy from us once become regular customers. At one of the fairs, where we arrived early in the morning, I lost my phone, which I had saved up for a long time. It was charging, and it got stolen. I was very upset and thought I would never participate in fairs again. But then, calming down, I realized that I needed to continue. Losing my phone gave me the opportunity to start all over again.
When I first started making pastila, my youngest child was 8 months old. For a year, I made it only for family and friends. Then people started asking for it, which pushed me to pursue this business. I obtained a certificate for selling in stores. We developed new recipes and started making bars. Our products are made 100% from natural ingredients and contain no added sugar. I am constantly learning, studying new technologies, and trying to work with other entrepreneurs. We don’t have a large warehouse, so in the summer we use fresh fruits, and in the winter we continue working by freezing fruits to use later. Pastila sells out quickly, and we produce exactly as much as we can sell,” she explains.
According to Kushubakova, her husband supports her endeavors. “When I go abroad for training, he stays with the children. He understands that the more I learn, the greater the results will be. Every year we produce pastila for the children who come to the presidential New Year’s tree, and large institutions order our products for the holidays. This brings us great pride. We are sincerely grateful to our customers who appreciated our products made in a small kitchen and inspired us for further development,” concluded Samara Kushubakova.
