Always work with the food inspector

<div id="buzzsprout-player-5193508"></div>
<script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/294377/5193508-s2e16-paula-teixeira-leite-of-caju-winds-on-the-packaged-food-business.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-5193508&player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>

About Paula Leite

Paula Leite is the owner of Caju Winds in Prince Edward County.

Paula grew up in Brazil and obtained a Bachelor degree in Psychology. She then came to Canada following her passion for Psychology and she finished a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology with hopes to continue a career path she always admired.

That’s when life threatening circumstances involving her daughter changed Paula’s life. Being an entrepreneur was not in Paula’s plans, after almost 3 years out of the labour market, everything changed. During these 3 years at home, love, commitment and many hours in the kitchen had paved the path for the creation and development of Caju Winds. “I did everything I had to do in order to accommodate my daughter’s needs and ensure her wellbeing; it was all for her not a business idea at the time.” Paula said.

Making cashew spreads started out of necessity for Paula and in no time friends would be calling to order them. Paula said “I never had an intention to start a food business, I had never thought about it.” The idea of starting a business became an option and the struggles of a start -up business became very real. Paula and her family decided to leave Toronto to move to Prince Edward County three and a half years ago where they decided to stablish the business. Today, Paula has her own commercial kitchen and you can find her spreads in many wineries and grocery shops in the County and surrounding area. Her advice; “When life throws you lemons, use them to ferment cashews and make spreads”, she says laughing. Making the best of a difficult situation has taught Paula to embrace the moment, open her mind and carry on.