Baking a Dream… Becomes A Reality
In Mexican culture, baking bread is a family affair. The bread-making tradition in Mexico came from Spain and France. French bakers made Brioche and from there, the Mexican bakers produced the “Bolillo” salty bread and the “La Concha” sweet bread. Jazmin and Jose Hernandez had participated in this tradition since they were kids. For them, making bread is an art where love and passion are the main ingredients. Their dream was to offer their authentic, traditional, and artisanal Mexican Bread to Pittsburgh.
The concept of the Panaderia Jazmin is the result of a family dream that blossomed when Jose and Jazmin were children in Mexico. Once they moved to the U.S., they began to cherish and remember their family bakery and their Mexican bread. They wanted to learn the steps to establish and grow a business.
They came to the University of Pittsburgh Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and received business consulting and business webinars in their language of origin, Spanish. They completed a business plan, prepared the steps to open, went over the regulations, and had a clear path to follow.
Jazmin and Jose were able to open their Panaderia Jazmin in Mt. Lebanon in addition to selling at different farmer markets in Mt. Lebanon, White Hall, the South Side, Carnegie, and others. Their business is take-out with delivery included. They are also looking to become suppliers for large grocery stores as part of their long-term planning.
“We appreciate all the help we received from the University of Pittsburgh SBDC who were able to be with us from the beginning. We developed a trusted relationship.”
Jazmin & Jose Hernandez