Success stories

New entrepreneur:
Yuliya Chervona (Ukraine)
Age: 34
Company name: green kitchen / https://greenkitchen.com.ua/ (Start-up)
Sector of activity: Hotel, restaurant, tourism, travel services and wellness

Host entrepreneur:
Sara Lenzi (Belgium)
Age: 35
Company name: Entre Nous / https://www.entrenousbxl.com/ (5 years of experience)
Sector of activity: Hotel, restaurant, tourism, travel services and wellness

Yuliya Chervona is an entrepreneur from Kyiv who has been running her sustainable catering "green kitchen" for almost 2 years. Understanding the trends and basic industry standards Yuliya decided to get unique knowledge and ideas from a more experienced entrepreneur to upgrade her business and learn how to run a sustainable restaurant. It took more than a year to find the best option. Finally she met Sara Lenzi owner of Entre Nous the Italian restaurant in Brussels who needed marketing reinforcement and a different perspective. Sara’s restaurants uniqueness lies in using of fresh seasonal local products which ensure the connection of local farmers and producers with customers (farm-to-table dining). Entre Nous is built on principles of sustainable food and zero waste. This was exactly what Yuliya was looking for so they began a 2-month exchange extended later due to a full-scale Ukraine invasion by Russia. These months allowed them to get additional practical experience.

From the first days Sara involved Yuliya in every process. Yuliya researched the main food trends and the organic market in Brussels and learned to cook dishes according to original typical recipes from various regions of Italy including unique food preservation and 10+ types of pasta. Sara was very supportive and open to all her initiatives so Yuliya registered Entre Nous with Trip Advisor and proposed a different desc ription for Google Maps to make the restaurant more popular. Together they visited local Brussels producers to establish a partnership and learn more about their businesses. They discussed tried and launched new methods of Entre Nous market visibility. Yuliya developed the Entre Nous Instagram and Facebook pages publishing stories and posts with images of plates, events, collaborations with organic producers and farmers. Yuliya also digitalized job instructions for the team as well as gathered information about restaurant partners for new Entre Nous digital menu.

These 5 months brought a lot for both entrepreneurs. Working side-by-side with Sara Yuliya discovered local customers’ needs, learned how to make a proper business plan for the restaurant and register it in Belgium government and private investment opportunities, such as local acceleration programmes. Yuliya also learned about the personnel management system and tax legislation. She has obtained an experience in zero waste management in the restaurant. Yuliya organized 2 brunches and 3 catering events and got a new experience different from what she had in Ukraine. Thanks to constant social media posts people started to interact with the content and visit Entre Nous more often. It also increased customer loyalty by 25% and the average bill as they started ordering the desserts and drinks they saw in the stories. As a result Sara hired 2 people to improve the service level. The exchange became even more holistic than they expected. They keep in touch and look forward for the future collaboration.

For more information, please contact the local contact points involved in the exchange:

New entrepreneur's contact point:
LLC "CIVITTA UKRAINE" (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Host entrepreneur's contact point:
Belgian-Italian Chamber of Commerce (Brussels, Belgium)

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