JENIFER FERNANDES
joseph@herald-goa.com
ALDONA: Venissa Conceicao, a resident of Carona, has been at the helm of her family-run bakery business in Ucassaim for over two decades. She also operates a popular stall at the Mapusa market under the name St. Peter’s Bakery, where she specialises in crafting authentic Goan sweets. Her mission is simple yet profound: to spread the fragrance and flavour of traditional Goan sweets, made from the humblest of ingredients yet transformed into something extraordinary.
Over the years, Venissa has built a loyal customer base, but she remains concerned about the fading knowledge and recognition of many traditional sweets. “There are sweets like serival and letri which are rarely made these days. Some names are forgotten, and some of the authenticity is lost. There are several reasons for this — some sweets are tedious to prepare, while others require expensive ingredients. The sweets I mentioned are the ones the market currently demands,” she explains.
Married into a family that has been running this bakery business for over 25 years, Venissa joined the trade soon after her wedding. “From the beginning, we used to make bread like all the other bakers. My stall is still in the bread market. But there were already too many people selling bread, and we noticed there was a demand for sweets. So we introduced them one at a time, and as the business grew, so did our range.”
Though the business remains deeply rooted in tradition, it is also very much a family affair. “We have three workers. These days, there are no local Goan workers, so we have to hire people from outside and train them. It’s not easy teaching them. In our family, we know how to make the sweets, so we don’t rely entirely on outsiders. That’s very important in this line — you need to know the craft yourself.”
Venissa is a mother of five. While none of her children are fully immersed in the business, a couple show occasional interest. “This generation is unpredictable. Some kids want ‘white-collar’ jobs and see this as ‘blue-collar’ work. But in business, every challenge is an opportunity — success depends on how creatively you handle it.”
During Christmas, when demand spikes, her children help with tasks like packing. While the response from customers remains strong, health concerns and inflation have begun to impact sales. “Many people have diabetes and are cutting down on sweets. We try using natural sugars like palm jaggery, but not everything can be made that way — the cost goes up, and we have to raise prices too. Local people can’t always afford it.”
The price of ingredients has skyrocketed over the years. “Even just a few years ago, sweets were priced around Rs 100 to Rs 250 per kg. Now, I’ve set the price at Rs 560 per kg — a big jump. Coconut, the cornerstone of Goan sweets, costs Rs 50 a piece. If we buy at that rate, how can we sell cheaper?”
For Venissa, tradition must begin at home. “We’re at fault too — we don’t introduce our youngsters to traditional tastes. When we teach them from childhood about what goes into our food and what it produces, they’ll value it more. When I got married, my husband was abroad and I had a job too. But our parents were ageing and handed over the business to us. Initially, we hesitated — we had jobs, and staying in Goa to do a traditional business felt uncertain. But in the end, it kept our family together. My husband came back, and we’ve been living together ever since.”
Before settling in Goa, Venissa worked as a pastry chef abroad. When their son was born, they returned home and took over the family bakery. Interestingly, she never trained in baking. “I had done a hotel management course, but not in food production. I learned everything after marriage.”
Cleanliness is a top priority in her kitchen. “We have one worker just for cleaning. Twice a week, we do deep cleaning with a pressure wash — it’s very important in the food industry.”
Venissa has no regrets about her career path. “I would choose this over a government job any day. Today, all the youth want to go to London — it’s the Portuguese passport trend. Migrants are coming to Goa, buying property. Why can’t our kids do that here? If they look at this positively, they’ll realise that a traditional business will never die out.”