High quality, healthy ingredients, passion and sweet pleasure - even with these features, IVET Bistro from Trenčín abounds, which offers raw or vegan goodies for every responsible cheerleader.

Although the bistro has only been operating since 2019, owner Iveta Novotná has been working on healthy sweets for many years. Thanks to her main ingredient, love, she quickly found many fans and clients. This is also evidenced by the fact that in the TOP GASTRO equipment competition in the Trenčín Region for 2020, it was taken to a beautiful second place. Out of a total of 3046 votes, IVET Bistro received 168 out of 58 nominated facilities.

Iveta told us more about her business and bistro in an interview.

1. Introduce yourself to us at the beginning and tell us about the beginnings in your business.

Hello! My name is Iveta and when I started years ago, it was best for me to call my starting IVET brand. I kept the name, I'm just seven years away today and I'm successfully building a little lovebrand.

I have always been a "dreamer who flies in the clouds" and will never be obsessed. I have tried various jobs in my life, but they have always been associated with high work and mental strain. Later, my first health problems became apparent and we spent a very difficult period in the family, so life arranged my slowdown myself. I started to focus more on the health of myself and my family. Since there wasn't such a big boom about a healthier lifestyle at the time as it is now, I was constantly looking for information and sitting for books for hours and hours.

I also came across raw desserts. They enchanted me immediately, so I immediately started trying my own recipes. I remember exactly those feelings in the beginning. I spent time in the kitchen using a trial and error system and creating. It made me happy. At first it was a hobby. Then it grew into a passion. The original intention was not to start a business. I remember the beginning as a period of sweet ignorance, when the enthusiasm and engine for materializing your dream is so strong that it overcomes all obstacles. Because that's where I ever made the crazy decision that it would be my job.

There was a time when I had to get an education to become an official confectioner, to handle all the complicated legislative issues so that I could open a confectionery factory, and only then did it all start "really". My dream was to bring people the joy of eating, even if they have health restrictions. To still experience a taste and visual experience. And we follow this philosophy to this day.

And now I'll speed it up. From the first small production, where I learned to work as efficiently with respect to space and time, I moved to a larger one, and even if it stopped being satisfactory, I moved to the third, where I produce to this day. Every factory had to be redone, so all the hands and feet were always involved and we set to work hard once and again. This time, the production is large and allows me to fulfill other dreams and expand the offer with more and more goodies. In the meantime, I am no longer alone in production. But I'm still a part of it and I spend long hours in it every day.

Thousands of raw desserts have passed through my hands over the years. Therefore, I can proudly say that it tastes fantastic and my recipes are fine-tuned to the last dot. I met hundreds of customers who often came from great distances or abroad. I was a part of many important moments. And it just warms the heart.

When I felt that I really had something to pass on, I organized the first 20 experiential workshops in one year, which were always fully booked. I needed to move on. I think that after five years of production, I exhausted almost all possibilities in raw desserts and I missed the new wind. New creation so that I can bring other great things to customers.

Over time, the idea of opening an IVET Bistro also matured in me. Customers increased and daily phone calls to see if we had anything free to subscribe made me think. I dreamed of a small space that we will supply with goodies every day and I must say, it came true to my point. In November 2019, I opened this little piece of paradise as some people used to say.

2. Is the specific product in IVET Bistro one of the most popular or best-selling?

Honestly, quite a difficult question. Since our philosophy is to supply IVET Bistro on a daily basis with constantly fresh treats and at the end of the day we have sold out regularly. But I will mention at least the legendary vegan banoffee, the very popular vegan cheesecake salted caramel or in winter my raw bouncer

3. Has your bistro been marked by the current difficult situation?

The situation we are in is not easy. At the beginning, we didn't know what we were going to do and what awaited us. However, in life I have to adapt to situations and I am not a person who would give up right at the beginning. And so we were able to survive this period as well. Of course, it hurt and it still hurts. But we have amazing customers who support us with their purchases all the time. When the IVET Bistro had to be closed, I delivered orders by car directly from the factory every day and I also set off outside Trenčín.

4. What assortment do you offer for clients? Will people with special intolerances find sweetness in you?

IVET is here for everyone, but my focus from the beginning is to create mainly desserts for people with various intolerances or limitations. Everything you will find with us is gluten-free and non-dairy at the same time. My factory is purely gluten-free, in which we have separate areas for working with raw desserts, for working with vegan desserts and also, where we only work with eggs. We have separate machines and tools for each job. It is very important to prevent contamination. For five years I only made raw desserts, in the sixth year I added vegan baked desserts and a few weeks ago I assigned the third section, namely desserts using eggs. This dispersion satisfies diverse customers, and so an incredible number of people have found their way to us.

And that's my way. So that even people with disabilities can enjoy it. We are always happy and willing to advise customers which dessert is suitable for them. Here you will find many, even demanding combinations. For example, such a pinwheel in our dress is gluten-free, completely milk-free, without soy or nuts. And yet you have guess behind your ears. Everything can be taken with you immediately. We pack exclusively in ecological recyclable packaging. This is our seventh year in corporate philosophy. We sort waste honestly and we even compost biological waste in our own electric composter.

5. Do you have special plans for 2021 if the situation calmed down and conditions were more favorable?

If it were, many would be different. But 2020 taught me one thing, and that is that you don't have to fix too much on anything. Not even on plans. In any case, I am currently working on one large online project, which should see the light of day sometime in the first third of the year. It takes a lot of my time, so I'm adapting to it now. Also, my new website will be launched in a few weeks. And I still have a plan that is just moving to a more convenient time that I will open another IVET Bistro in another city.

6. How do you perceive winning the 2nd place in the TOP GASTRO equipment of the Trenčín Region 2020 competition?

Of course, we were extremely pleased with the win and many thanks to everyone who voted for us. It was unbelievable that we were a very small operation, operating only for a very short time.

7. Is there anything you would like to pass on to our readers?

I am building the IVET brand with love and I am very proud of the part of the journey that has already passed. Every day I have various challenges ahead of me and everything is not always easy, believe me. Years later, I can say that you can only do this job if you love it. You really love. And I'm looking forward to bringing our work joy to many people!

In Trenčín on January 18, 2021

Text: MT