Vegan cuisine for everyone’s taste

Without previous knowledge on how to run a business and with no advice from experienced caterers, she opened her restaurant in June 2021 in the Sarajevo’s Ciglane bloc. In February this year, she hired her first employee.

„In the beginning the idea was for it to be simple: a bar with smoothies, juices and simple dishes. The menu expanded afterwards and we also stayed focused on vegan cakes where I can express my creativity,” says the young entrepreneur who has in the last few months participated in the BizUp programme which is being implemented by the Foundation 787 and UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the financial support of the United Kingdom government.

In the eight months since “Zelena Sredina” was created, the business grew, the way of work changed and this vegan cuisine enthusiast says she learned a lot about how to run a business and handle partnerships.

„When we started the business, we had no marketing, there was no news about us on web portals nor on social media. The start was modest, as we did not know anyone. But then people started pouring in slowly.”

Curiosity and exploration of vegan cuisine

The first time Naida learned more about the vegan diet was on the Internet and as a 15-year-old she started avoiding meat. As back in the days there were not enough options to choose from to buy and order vegan dishes, she experimented with various recipes at home. After completing the textile high school and enrolling in English language studies, she started working in commerce and catering and soon realised she wants to start her own business.

In the beginning, she says, what she needed the most was financial support. With some savings, a small general-purpose loan from a bank and with the help of her boyfriend and another friend, she started “Zelena Sredina” in the modest premises at Merhemića Square in Sarajevo.

Over the past months she often faced prejudice, mostly because she started her own business as a young person, but also because vegan cuisine is still insufficiently known in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

„I had a few friends, acquittances, who were sceptical, saying ‘who is going to eat that’ and then they tried it a few times and they liked it,” Naida noted. „I believe the prejudices are the worst. People don’t know what being vegan is. When they say ‘you are vegan’, they think I am only eating green salad, but what they don’t know is how much diversity there is in this diet. One should only give it a try. We made as simple dishes as possible as we didn’t want to have too much of an experiment. The aim was to have something that would suit everyone’s taste, including those who are vegan and those who are not, so that it would fit, and that we don’t target one group of customers, but that it is available to all.”

Seven years ago, Naida started experimenting with vegetarian food and avoiding meat and meat products, and later with vegan food as well, or avoiding any product of animal origin including milk, dairy and eggs. She explains how there is much more to learn about this type of diet so that it is diverse, including nuts, fruits and vegetables as well as additional vitamins, to take care of one’s health.

„Previously, I also had to eat whatever I was served, I had to eat meat. But now mostly younger population likes to try vegan food, especially because of what they see on the Internet. There are changes in the world, more and more people support this way of life,” Naida says.

„People most often try vegan food due to health reasons. There are a lot of diabetic people, or those who have allergies and must not eat gluten, sugar. All of that can be achieved through the vegan diet. Not to speak of how unhealthy meat is with all the mass production. On the other hand, it is not humane what is being done to animals.”

Mentor support and growth

After a good start and at the point when she needed to make further steps and make “Zelena Sredina” grow, a mentor’s support was most valuable for Naida. As one of 15 women entrepreneurs from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the BizUp project, she had the opportunity to learn about business development and work on a vision of success and the need for further investment and growing sales.

„I think what I need the most is to learn to appreciate my own work. I started with very low prices because my idea was that the standard should not be too high for vegan dishes. This had to change in order for the business to survive, although these prices are now reasonable as well. I got a lot of advice, especially on how to learn to appreciate my own work,” Naida says. “Through the work with my mentor, different ideas got their momentum.”

Through BizUp, the entrepreneurs got financial support as well. This helped them make an important step in their businesses. Thanks to that, “Zelena Sredina” changed its address since November 2021, not too far away from the first location – it is now located at the larger premises in Husrefa Redžića Street. With green walls and in a quiet environment with flowers, a small restaurant nowadays offers dozens of savory and sweet dishes and drinks, like pasta with cashew sauce, sandwiches with vegan dry meat, pottages and soups, as well as polenta with vegan cashew yogurt and various vegan sweets and cakes. 

„As a result of mentorship, prices were corrected. New dishes were added to the menu. Our sale was very much based on Korpa [delivery app] because I was not satisfied with the aesthetics of the interior of    the restaurant, and I thought that would turn people away,” Naida explains. “A change of focus is in the process, there should be some events, social gatherings, in order to get closer to the customers who are online, whom we never met, who are used to ordering every day, but who never came to ‘Zelena Sredina’. "

Even though she is satisfied with online sales, she is still looking forward to meeting the customers in person, talking to them about the menu and gathering ideas in order to improve.

„If I could go back, if someone told me what awaits, I would think twice. But it was very brave and very hard. Still, I always had this energy in me, a bit different than my peers. I don’t get to see that many of my peers who, at the age of 24, start a business which survives, works and plans to expand.”

This article was created within the project “Women Economic Empowerment in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Rebuilding Better” which is implemented by UN Women in BiH with the financial support of United Kingdom government.