• When you put your soul into what you do, the products you create will rise to another level.
This is demonstrated every day at Brutăria Simplu. Respect for the authentic taste, quality ingredients, love for the people around are essential things experienced by the customer who enters the universe of Brutaria Simplu. From the bread in various ways of expression, to the tempting desserts, everything beckons you to come back, truly feeling that the soul is part of everything that surrounds you.
1.Tell us in a few words: who is Nicoleta Dinu Trifan?
They fulfill several roles and all are important. I am a mother of two wonderful boys, I am a wife, daughter and sister and, last but not least, I am a pastry chef and artisan baker for the third "child" mine, Simple Bakery. I am a man who loves people and has done everything in his power to fulfill his childhood dream.
2. What inspired you to choose this path? Why the dough thing?
I decided with my soul and started to put "brick" plague "brick", to build "city of my dream": an artisanal bakery, with products made from natural and clean ingredients. "Simple" is the universe first penciled in the imagination and then made concrete with the help of the family and the equally passionate people I attracted to my side. We believe that a much greater force was at work with us. And it's a passion that keeps growing!
3. Do you remember the first time you baked something?
I grew up in an entrepreneurial family and certain skills were imprinted on me without realizing it. The family environment was the spark that would light the fire of my passion for baking. Often, if I close my eyes, I find myself smelling the warm bread that my grandmother used to bake, I feel the crispy crust and the aroma of the "dont" of bread that I used to eat as soon as I received the portion from her.
I think the first thing I ever baked was a baked pasta pudding for my sister. As a child, I used to play with my sister "Ladies'" in which I always prepared food and set the table for her. The game continues even now, and the Bakery is the place where I can give the best in me: the great passion for good and quality food.
4. Which aspect of your chosen profession do you find the most demanding? But the most important?
Clearly, the most important thing is to do your job with pleasure, to put passion in what you do, to love and dedicate yourself to your projects. The most demanding thing seems to me to find the team that resonates with your passion. This team needs to be united and moving in the same direction as you.
5. Why "Simplu Bakery"? What inspired the name?
The "Simple" story came naturally, as a realization of my passion and dream of having my own family business, an artisan bakery. The name came naturally and reflects the way we approach both the business and the relationships with those around us: with simplicity. And simplicity, most of the time, we translate it by honesty, first of all towards ourselves and our dreams. Simple is also reflected in the fact that we do not use anything artificial for our products, but only simple things: flour, eggs... Simple ingredients, uncomplicated by us, the people.
6. How important do you think high-performance equipment is in the activity of a bakery?
Quality equipment is very important in the activity of a bakery. In the current conditions we realize concretely how important they are. Energy costs have increased a lot, and an equipment, the more it is of a newer generation and is thought to consume as little as possible, the more beneficial it is for our activity. Added to this aspect is the quality of the products, which is clearly superior to those baked in older generation ovens. Of course we all love grandma's hearth ovens, but when it comes to commercial grade products we rely on technology, which better be of the highest quality.
7. We know that the ingredients used for the products we find at Brutaria Simplu are synonymous with the tradition of authentic bread: organic flour, wild yeast, seeds. Likewise, only natural ingredients are used for the desserts you produce. How difficult is it for you to source your raw material?
At first it was a little more complicated until I entered this road. I tried to identify manufacturers and suppliers for the raw material I needed. I didn't take the easy way out. But in recent years there has been an increase in the number of producers of organic flour, both locally and nationally.
It's a good thing for us, just like it's a good thing that people are starting to think more about what they're consuming, they're starting to read labels to know what's in that product. We have decided that all the ingredients used to obtain our products are natural, from verifiable and certified sources.
We bake with organic organic flour, we use wild yeast for bread and natural ingredients for sweets (no artificial essences, additives or preservatives, eggs from free-range chickens). We believe in quality products, made from premium ingredients. But our main ingredient is love for people and respect for natural taste.
8. How much is the current economic climate affecting you and what do you think the long-term effects will be?
I can't say that the pandemic period affected us, the bread producers, so much, but on the contrary, the world turned more towards the sector of local producers. We have felt real support from our customers throughout this period. And what comes next, it seems, will affect us all, but we don't yet know to what extent. But the increased costs of energy and raw materials will also be reflected in the price of our products, which we cannot support in a margin that does not cause frustration. On the other hand, declining purchasing power also affects the market. But we will continue to do the same thing we started with and we will continue to offer products to the same standard of quality. Precisely because of the fact that we have loyal customers who always recommend us and bring other members to the Simplu family.
9. Bakery Simplu is a destination also promoted on certain websites for tourists, or for those who want to taste an exceptional dish. What do you think is the key to Brutaria Simplu's success?
Yes, we are excited about every review we receive! It shows that we do what we do well. This gives us strength and confidence to follow the path we set out on. We have created an extraordinary community around us and we are not exaggerating when we say that, most of the time, next to our customers, we experience the feeling of familiarity. We believe that love for people and love for clean food helped us a lot.
10. What are your future plans? What surprises are you preparing for us?
We are currently implementing the project "Simple House", a social entrepreneurship project. Through this project, we have undertaken the mission of contributing to increasing the quality of life, supporting the integration and increasing the social well-being of the representatives of vulnerable groups in Brașov County, at the same time facilitating the access of the Brașov community to bakery-confectionery-pastry products of the highest quality. At the same time, through this project we support and promote a healthy lifestyle. For more than four years we have formed an incredibly beautiful community around us. We are united by common values and we think it's time to give this community a name as a sign of gratitude: "The Simple House".
The second project is the opening, very soon, of a point of sale and micro production in the center of Brașov, so that we can make our products easier for tourists to access. We know that we are very much expected in several areas of Brașov, but the expansion requires cumulative efforts and currently this is the pace we can support.
11. Do you have a specific person who motivates you, or a motto that guides you in life?
The motto is the one that formed the basis of the name and everything it represents "The bakery Simple": "Simple, but not Simplistic".
Audio version of the interview:
Interview conducted by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
Read on White Art and: The consumption of local products is increasing
