Cristina Talacko - An Inspirational Story of Home

INSPIRE - verb

To make someone feel that they want to do something and can do it.

That's exactly what our Ethnic Business Award winners and finalists do for us. They totally inspire us. Every year for more than three decades the Ethnic Business Awards have featured the stories of people who have overcome many hurdles and go on to become extremely successful.  They arrive, strive and succeed.  Here we feature the story of one such person.  

Cristina Talacko at the 2017 Ethnic Business Awards, with Mr Joseph Assaf AO

In 1997, Cristina Talacko migrated to Australia from Brazil along with her husband and two young children. Upon arrival Cristina soon realized that she felt quite lonely and she missed the support of her family.  Cristina originally had a passion to practice law in Australia, holding a law degree from the University of London. However, she learnt that in order to practice Law in Australia whe would need to complete a further three years of studies so she enrolled herself in the NSW Barristers and Solicitors Admissions Board course. After going through a few more years of studying and working, she decided it was time to give up law and start working on a different dream. With her husband at work and travelling overseas often, Cristina decided to start her own business.  She called it -  SalDoce Fine Foods.

Cristina’s homesickness drew her to the business.  She was looking for something that would allow her to visit her home country often. According to Cristina, there was one particular snack called Pao de Queijo, a kind of cheese bread, that was famous in Brazil which she couldn’t find anywhere in Australia. So, she flew to Brazil, learnt how it was made and started her own production of the bread here in Australia.  And thus SalDoce Fine Foods was born.

However, this wasn’t an experience that came without a few hitches along the way. Cristina’s background was in the legal sector, she had never had any experience working in a factory or even in the baking of these breads. Add to that the fact that she was relatively new to Australia and did not have many contacts in the food industry. Her company couldn’t get a lot of financing at the beginning and nor could they invest large capital amounts, instead they had to grow slowly so as to recover quickly from any losses. The risk associated with introducing a brand new product from another country was also quite high. The question being – how would people learn about the product?  And would they enjoy it?  Much effort was put in by the company to educate Australian consumers and also the distributors, school canteens, and retail shops.

The first really big win for the company was when Woolworths Supermarkets began selling their product. After that, the company gained the attention of the public. They participated in a Food Safari TV Show, which introduced them to a lot of different kinds of customers.

After being in the business for a while, Cristina noticed that there was a huge need for more gluten free and allergen free products in the market. Their customers were asking for them because there were so very few options available to them, and most of the ones that were available didn’t taste great. So Cristina started to service the needs of these customers, including those who suffer from coeliac disease.  Her products were well received as they didn’t compromise on taste or quality. Another brand was born called YesYouCan, which empowered people with certain dietary limitations, including gluten free, sugar free, vegan and vegetarian products.

“We take pride in offering delicious, tasty and healthy foods that people with allergies and health conditions would otherwise not be able to enjoy. We regularly receive letters and messages from customers thanking us for developing products they enjoy and are able to include in their diets. We are passionate about helping children, adults and seniors with their dietary issues so they are able to have the same enjoyments in life without health risks.”

The company also started exporting their products to numerous countries around the world. For this, they were awarded the NSW Export Award 2016 for agribusiness. They were also awarded an Innovation Award at the FIAL Food Show in Shanghai. SalDoce has now become a huge manufacturer in Australia and is proud to promote Australia as a green, clean and high quality food producer.

Aside from her business endeavours, Cristina is also involved with the Australia-Brazil Chamber of Commerce. She was President of the chamber for ten years, and is currently the vice president. She has held seminars on how to do business with Brazil, has organised trade and continues to promote closer relations between Australia and Brazil. She is also a Director on the Board of the Coalition for Conservation which is a group supporting industries who are trying to take action to be more environmentally friendly, and she is also a director of One Meal which is a charity foundation created to assist the homeless in Sydney.

Cristina Talacko at the Ethnic Business Awards gala in 2017

When Cristina won the Small Business Award at the Ethnic Business Awards 2017, she said:

“As migrants, we all have different stories but I believe we share one important commonality which is adaptability. As Charles Darwin said, it’s not the strongest of the species that survive, not even the most intelligent, but it is those who are most responsive to change.”

It was a pleasure for us to be introduced to Cristina Talacko’s inspiring story, and we hope it inspires someone reading this to share theirs too!