A Richmond couple is proving that passion, family values — and a little help from technology — can plow a path to success.
The husband and wife team of Jaeriah and Danilo Passeri head up Nirvana Foods, a small (five employees) food production company that specializes in making wholesome pies, which is one of five local firms nominated for a Small BC Business Award.
Their route to gaining recognition started in 2011 when they met in his native Italy. She was travelling on a work exchange trip, and he was a chef working in a hotel kitchen.
“I knew from the beginning that I liked this girl,” Danilo said. “But my English was so limited that I didn’t know how I was going to be able to talk to her.”
The solution was Google translator. It helped overcome the language barrier and the romance blossomed to the point Jaeriah convinced Danilo to follow her back to Canada.
“I knew from the start he was going to be my husband,” she said.
About a year later, they were married and together delved into her family’s organic food business ‑— Steveston-based Nirvana Organics — that produced a line of wholesome comfort foods that were sold on the premises and to other food service companies.
Faced with an ultra-competitive marketplace, they decided to narrow the focus of their efforts and listened to what customers were telling them.
They wanted pies.
“It really struck a chord with people,” said Jaeriah, a Richmond secondary grad, whose family came to Canada from Singapore. “I never grew up with them (pies), but my dad, who also works as an executive chef, made them. It was also new for Danilo.
“We took it and made it our flagship product.”
So, Nirvana Pies was born in 2014 and offers pies that include chicken pot pie, pulled pork, curried lamb, pepper steak, a French-Canadian inspired tourtiere and curried paneer for vegetarians.
“We wanted to give the community the flavours they knew,” said Danilo, adding that through trial, error and canvassing family and friends, they came up with a variety that stayed true to their comfort food roots.
Danilo cooked and Jaeriah worked in marketing and designed the graphics on the packaging.
“I came from a travel and fashion design background, so this was a big step for me,” she said. “So, when we started this, I learned through doing.
“I also knew how to taste,” she added with a laugh.
Since those early pie-making days, Nirvana Foods moved from Steveston and grew into its 2,000-square-foot production kitchen in the City Centre area, that, with their rising list of retail customers, is becoming a tad small to meet demands.
“It is getting a little bit tight,” Jaeriah said. “So, we hope down the road we can move to a bigger space. It’s a matter of taking it one step at a time. But we want to stick with wholesome, comfort meals. Something families can bring home and pop in the oven that is balanced and nourishing.”
Helping maintain that is the fact production is still done in small batches and made from fresh ingredients.
“It’s like you are cooking at home,” Danilo said. “Everything is cut by hand. And I usually start early in the morning and finish when I am finished. I don’t look at the clock. I just keep going until I am satisfied I have done everything I have to for the day.”
That commitment comes with often simple rewards.
Not long ago, when the two were pitching their pies by giving away small samples in a local grocery store, they had the opportunity to get immediate feedback from people tasting their wares for the first time.
“There was a young family with two little girls. And the dad made a point of taking Danilo aside and said how much his kids really loved the pies,” Jaeriah said.
“If the kids like it, that’s the best because they are honest, like angels. They don’t lie,” Danilo said. “This business, it’s not so much about money. It’s the satisfaction, that moment when you know you made someone happy with what you’ve cooked, it just makes you fly.”
Keeping their fortunes aloft will take a continued commitment. It’s something both of them understand very well.
“As a small business owner, you never get to the point where you think you’ve made it,” Jaeriah said. “You will never have that Eureka moment. You always want to keep getting better and better.”
“And you need to love what you’re doing and always try to do better” Danilo added. “If you don’t have that, you lose a little bit of yourself. You need to have that feeling inside your heart.”
The Small BC Business Awards, which Nirvana Foods is nominated in two categories — the premier’s people’s choice and best immigrant entrepreneur — will be handed out Feb. 23, 2017 at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Downtown Vancouver.
