Freya's story: How an idea during maternity leave became a successful business

Six years ago, while on maternity leave with her second child, she sought a healthy alternative to the sugar-laden sweets available on the market. As these searches proved unsuccessful, Nadejda decided to create her own sweets from dried fruits, without sugar, additives, or colorants.

Equipped with a dehydrator, Nadejda began making sweets at home using seasonal fruits. After numerous experiments, she started producing fruit pastilles while maintaining the same quality standards. Dedicated to promoting the consumption of healthy sweets and with an entrepreneurial spirit, Nadejda founded Freya, a company named after the Scandinavian goddess of love and fertility.

The beginnings were not easy. Nadejda invested a lot of time and resources to develop recipes that preserved the natural flavor and taste of the fruits while retaining most of the essential nutrients. She wanted her products to be visually appealing without using sugar or preservatives.

Freya's products, made from fruits mostly purchased from local producers, quickly became popular due to their quality and health benefits. The dried fruit snacks, using a cold drying technology, preserve the fruits for long periods without refrigeration.

With determination and vision, Nadejda diversified the product range, including various fruit pastilles, peanut butter, and mulled wine kits. Freya's products became a recognized brand, sold in cafes, stores, and offered by companies to employees as healthy holiday gifts.

A key moment in the business's development was obtaining financial assistance and mentorship from Sweden, the UK, and UNDP through the “Advanced Cross-River Capacities for Trade” (AdTrade) project. This financial support allowed the purchase of additional drying and dehydration equipment, as well as modern fruit cleaning machinery. The investments increased productivity and enabled the expansion of operations and product preparation for export.

The financial support, along with the mentorship and training under the AdTrade project, allowed Nadejda to improve her marketing strategy, create eco-friendly packaging and attractive labels for her products, and create two more jobs. Collaboration with other AdTrade project beneficiaries led to the creation of original holiday gift sets and allowed her to diversify her market.

"Customer appreciation inspires me and gives me strength, confidence, and new aspirations. Although we are still a small company, we strive to become a company with a closed-loop production cycle, without waste. For example, the apple core that we don't use in the production process is given to local farmers as animal feed or for composting," says Nadejda Gaipeli.

After six years of activity, Freya is already a well-known name on the left bank of the Nistru river, and now, with the help of the AdTrade project, is making its way to the right bank as well. The business has grown so much that Nadejda has involved her husband in managing it. Today, Freya has a solid network of loyal customers who appreciate the quality and authenticity of the fruit products.

Nadejda Gaipeli is one of the 76 entrepreneurs who have benefited from the assistance of Sweden, the UK, and UNDP under the “Advanced Cross-River Capacities for Trade” (AdTrade) project for launching or developing businesses on both banks of the Nistru River.