I've always believed that HONESTY, SERVICE and
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION can "make or break" a business!

I learned that from my Grandparents on my mother's side, who were TRUE pioneers and entrepreneurs (before the Bolsheviks took over Russia). Babushka (Grandmother) had a little pastry store in Kiev and she and Grandfather were able to make a little money and stay out of poverty. Then the Bolsheviks came, burned the villages, took away the businesses and killed my grandfather's two brothers. My grandparents hid in a hay barn and escaped harm. The Communists took over. Russia would never be 'The People's Country' of free enterprise ever again.

My grandparents fled to China and that's where my parents met and I was born! We came to the U.S. in 1960 via San Paulo, Brazil where we lived for three years, just long enough for my dad to earn enough money to put me and my family on a nice boat and ..... off we went to the 'Land of Opportunity'!

In the 60's, one had to have a sponsor or you could not get in to the U.S. We knew some Russian friends that came here earlier and they guaranteed my dad work and gave us a place to stay until we were able to support ourselves. My parents and grandparents worked very hard and saved enough money to open a little "Piroshki House" in the Haight/Ashbury district in the mid 1970's.

I hope I'm not boring you with all this information, but it's VERY important to me that my customers trust me and we develop a good business relationship.... I thought you would like to know a little about me and my past.

I'm a one-woman operation in San Mateo, California (30 miles south of San Francisco). I have a licensed manufacturing facility here and have been in business for 12 years. I started by selling the tea cakes at local Bay Area Farmer's Markets in 1993. This was when the Markets were the "in" place to shop for fresh, farm-grown produce and home-style baked goods. Six years later, they lost their extreme popularity and I wanted to expand my horizons.

Since I think I was born an entrepreneur, I had a hard time thinking about working for someone else ..... so I kept selling at the markets, but also approached a Gourmet "Mom and Pop" type of grocery store called Draeger's. They liked the tea cakes and I became a vendor for them in their three stores. Now I was baking 3 days, selling at 3 Farmer's Markets, and delivering and selling to 3 Draeger's stores!

Around January of '98 the Media and Magazines were talking about "If you're not doing business on the Internet,... you're not doing business!" So my first website was born!

More recently, in 2003, I developed "Natasha's Health Nut Cookies". I found and filled a need for delicious and healthy cookies. My customers range from those who just want a healthy snack to those with more severe health issues such as Diabetes and Celiac Disease. These cookies are flourless, gluten free (made from almond meal) and with no sugar added, they satisfy that little craving for something to eat before bedtime. During the day, even if we eat something that's not so healthy for us, we tend to burn it off. But late at night, whatever we snack on tends to go to sleep with us!. I found that eating a cookie with some warm nonfat milk satisfies that craving and I am able to go to sleep not feeling hungry. Many of my customers tell me that they've lost weight just cutting out the popcorn and substituting one or two cookies for their late night snack.

Thank you for reading my "Mini Novel"! And I thank you for your business.

Natasha Becker,
Owner, Sweet Temptations
San Mateo, California
1-866-328-8225