From 23-24 September 2021 the Lunch exhibition took place in the ExCel Centre in London. Its participants and visitors were owners and top managers in the hospitality sphere (or ‘HoReCa’, from ‘Hotels, Restaurants & Cafés’). There were also representatives of food retail. As the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, on this occasion the exhibition was combined with two others covering the industry; Casual Dining and Commercial Kitchen. This mix allowed customers and producers to see as many food industry products and innovations as possible. One participant of Lunch 2021 was Leeza Murina, a baker from Sheffield. Her Russian pies are the best in Britain, which has been confirmed by dozens of British Pie and Great Taste Awards.
Leeza Murina told Kommersant UK how she turned a hobby into a job, opened her own business in Britain and compelled the British public to queue up to buy some obscure pastries while the experts gave her one star after another.
Can I congratulate you on your new award?
The last year has been hard. Still, despite the difficulties, at the end of 2020, I took part in the pre-Christmas Best British Pie of the Year competition, which is held by British Baker Magazine. My pie, with chicken, walnuts and cranberries, won in the Best Savoury Pie category. All the other nominations were from the representatives of major supermarket chains. In January 2021, the Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards were held. Due to the pandemic, there was no public event, but you could send entries. My pie with Scottish chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, spinach and herbs got the gold in the nomination for Best Vegan Pie.
What year did you start to bake for sale?
Until 2017, I only baked for myself and my family. That year we rented a small workshop. Two years later, in response to the growing demand for our products, we moved into larger premises and bought some professional equipment. Although I’ve cooked since I was 16 and acquaintances often tell me that I should open a restaurant or café, it was mostly my husband Steve who pushed me into it. (He’s English). Having tried my dishes, he said ‘I’d never thought that Russian food could be so tasty, you need to make a business out of it!’ That’s how it all started.
What problems did you encounter at first, if there were any?
One problem was a lack of specialised knowledge, as I did not have professional training. This spurred me on to study, as there is a significant difference between making home-cooked food for the family and guests and producing items to be sold to the public. I believe in learning from the best bakers. My husband is a businessman with a specialised education, and that has been a great help. I learned a lot from him about things like production statistics, procurement rules and hygiene requirements in the food industry. I’ve also done several online courses and been to classes at specialised schools which teach food preparation techniques directly. I have many friends among chefs as well, they’ve acquainted me with the industry norms.
What pitfalls are lying in wait for someone who is just starting out in business in Britain?
Some advice for people from the Post Soviet Space is not to rely on the experience of running a business in Russia. There may not be any fundamental differences, but still, there are important nuances which need to be taken into account. You need to examine the information available and check the knowledge that you already have to adapt it to the British reality.
If you open a business in Britain, you can’t just rely on Russian-speaking clients. I have tried to avoid doing this right from the start. Russian speakers living here know about my products anyway. Of course, most Russian women can bake pies at home, but they have their own businesses, work and families. They understand that baking high-quality pastries requires a lot of time, so they buy mine. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of my clients are British people who had to be shown what Russian pirogi (pies) are, and had to be forced to try them. What is popular among Russians is not always accessible or attractive to British customers. Someone with a fledgling business should settle on their target audience straight away, and then tailor their business model accordingly.
Is there a difference between running a large enterprise and a small family business? How many employees does your company have, and do you plan to expand production?
The greatest difficulty is reorganising production when making the shift from a small business to a larger company and taking on new staff. It's one thing when you can make do with two ovens and do everything yourself. With the expansion of production comes responsibility for staff, the need to search for funding for the purchase of equipment, secure bank loans, keep more complex accounting records etc. Previously, we had six hired members of staff working in one shift. Since we’ve started to supply the B2B segment, our working hours have lengthened as well as our payroll. We have installed professional equipment and we’re currently hiring more people.
What kind of volumes do you produce and where is your production predominantly located? What consumer trends have you noticed?
Guided by market recommendations on how to make my goods more accessible to customers, I transport my baked goods to cities and regions where they are especially in demand. I go to specialised events, food fairs and farmers’ markets practically all over Britain, from Edinburgh to London. In the North, they prefer meat and fish pies, while in the South, they are more interested in lactose-free items and vegetarian or vegan pies. Our regular retail customers, who buy our products every month, number in the tens of thousands. We have 15 items in our range; salads, breads and sweet and savoury pastries.
This year (2021) we received our SALSA accreditation. Now, as well as operating in the B2B segment, we are also able to act as wholesale suppliers for supermarkets and the hospitality industry, who can then resell our baked goods. Whereas previously we only sold retail and worked with small businesses in the Sheffield area, baking 50,000-60,000 pies a year, at the Lunch exhibition we were present as wholesalers. Currently, volumes are increasing significantly. We are already delivering our products to four restaurants and we are holding talks with two large organisations; a retail chain and a wholesale company from Scotland which delivers products to 400 supermarkets.
Where do you buy materials and what principles are most important in guiding your choice of suppliers? What comes first for you, the quality of the ingredients or their price?
We are constantly searching for suppliers. I have been lucky in this area because, as I began the business by trading at food fairs and farmers’ markets, I have met a great many British farmers and producers of high-quality, natural organic products. I only use high-quality products at home and I regard my customers as my guests. I want them to be left with the very best impression of my dishes. This is why the quality of the ingredients takes first place for me. We produce premium-class goods, and our pies are the most expensive in Britain. However, this does not deter my customers, who come from out of town to get them. At every fair, there are queues for my pies.
Your pies are sold using the name “piewiches''. Why are Russian pirogi sold using this marketing ploy?
Everyone knows that Russians call larger pastries pirogi, and smaller ones pirozhki, but most of my customers are British. Many of them know and like Russian cuisine. In fact, the bulk of them have travelled a lot, value quality and have become used to eating a diverse range of foods. It’s important to tell these customers that we are a Russian bakery. On the other hand, some clients view foreign food with faint alarm. They find pirozhki quite tricky to pronounce, which makes matters worse. This is why we decided to explain to our customers the difference between British pies, which are mainly baked using shortcrust pastry and are served hot as a main course, and Russian pirogi, which are made from sweet dough, like brioche, and can be served hot or cold. With the appearance of the piewich, which combines two concepts, the pie and the sandwich, our sales shot up and the number of customers pretty much tripled.
You first entered business back in your homeland, where you sold furniture. What differences are there between how companies are run in Britain and Russia?
I’ve lived in Britain for 29 years, so my experience of running a company in Russia is a little out of date. Everything changes so quickly. I began my career in business practically as soon as the USSR collapsed.
Both in Russia and in Britain, I’ve met with success, and I can't say that I’ve had problems growing businesses, although there was one time… In 2018 we won a start-up competition for small businesses in Yorkshire. Our prize was £25,000 in investment, but the bank unexpectedly refused to transfer it to us as they’d decided our company was Russian since its name was Russian Food Company Ltd. As our business was registered in Britain, at first we didn’t believe that such a curious incident was possible. The situation eventually resolved itself. But for me, this event was an example of English bureaucracy.
How did you survive the pandemic, when the whole hospitality sector shut down? Did you deliver pies online?
The pandemic caught everyone unaware. While before quarantine I mostly worked with clients directly, during lockdown the volume of online orders grew by almost 400%. Despite the opening of various fairs and markets, and the fact that cafés and restaurants are now back in business, remote orders still make up a third of my business.
What are you planning to surprise customers with next? Will there be any innovations?
These days more and more people are turning away from meat, which is why I’m extending our selection of vegan pies. I am also expanding our range of gluten-free products; as well as dishes served in vegetables, pies are appearing with vegetables added to the pastry itself.
Could you share the secret of tasty pastry with our readers?
Of course, it’s good butter and high-quality flour. For example, when I make pastry, I mix three different types of flour, even if I'm only using wheat flour. I never rely on only one supplier.
