Meet Robin Schwartz | Pastry Chef, Health Coach, Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Robin Schwartz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Robin, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m originally from New York City, but have also lived abroad, as well as in various states in the U.S. Being from New York I grew up with all kinds of people and cultures. It was, and still is, considered a melting pot. So living around, and having friends from, all over the world really gave me an appreciation for all people and their diversity. Even in elementary school we visited the U.N. and had an International Day. So between that and my family, it really gave me a world view and I loved to travel and learn about new people, places and things. I realized that, though we have differences, we also all have many things in common.

Of course, living in New York, I also grew up with all kinds of food from every culture imaginable. I was fascinated and always loved trying and making different things. My parents were good cooks and I used to cook and bake with them growing up, not only for our family, but also while entertaining guests. I really enjoyed the baking/dessert part more than the entree/savory part. I used to look at cookbooks and watch the old original baking shows and then try to mimic or recreate what they did. Many times the cuisine was foreign. And I was always fascinated with flavors and flavor combinations. I even used to do things like mix different cereals to get the flavor profiles I wanted. In today’s markets the cereals are all that way naturally, it’s kind of funny. People always seemed to like what I made so I figured I must have a good palate and was always told that growing up.

I also grew up going to performing arts centers and attending all kinds of artistic events and performances which really gave me a love of the arts and creativity. Especially the performing arts, I found myself wanting to be the one on stage rather than the one in the audience. So I eventually pursued the performing arts, both singing and dancing an eventually spent many years working in the entertainment industry in various roles both creative and business related.

When I decided to start my own business, I took various classes to get a better understanding of who I was and what interested me and why. I even got a Professional Certificate in Broadcast Journalism. I realized that I was a very curious and empathic person and loved all things they categorized as “lifestyle”. That is, food, travel, people, learning, broadcasting, etc. I also seemed to excel in those things and they came to me naturally, though I didn’t give myself credit. People kept telling me how talented I was in topics that fell into this arena. So I realized something must be there and I just need to put it all together. That’s how I came up with my idea for Sweet Detente and international desserts. It brought together all of my passions and talents. People come together through food so i thought it was a good place to start. I also offer dessert histories with each order so my customers can appreciate where they came from and see how we all connect.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My company, Sweet Detente (sweetdetente.com), was borne out of all the things I said in my answers to the prior questions. We make original recipe versions of well-known desserts from around the world. So we’re a one-stop shop for our customers who want to experience something different, remind them of their childhoods or cultures or simply want to impress friends, family and clients with something special, unique and delicious! We make them with high end organic and natural ingredients and we’re known for our high quality, complexity and balance of fresh flavors that linger on your tongue. We are very careful to make them very light and moist, not dense, dry or heavy. They’re also all individually sized so you can mix and match and travel the world. That way you don’t have to choose between this dessert or that or weigh yourself down with a heavy chunk of 7-layer cake, for example.

We try to use as many domestic and local ingredients as possible but, as you can imagine, some recipes call for specialized items and flavors that you can only get through importers. The appeal of our product and brand is evidenced by some of the clients we’ve worked with and what we’ve been invited to partake in. For example, we’ve worked with celebrities, major caterers, country clubs, hotels like Ritz-Carlton and have been invited to appear on Food Network. We’ve done wine/dessert pairings with wineries and have had interest from stores like Whole Foods and Bristol Farms. We continue to garner interest from new clients all the time, as the word of mouth has expanded.

Having a food manufacturing business is generally thought to be the most difficult type of business. You have to manufacture a product and that product is perishable. That also requires many licenses and applicable laws, not to mention a tremendous amount of labor. So, there are many challenges with having a business such as this, including the expense, which a service-based business or a resale business does not have.

We grew the business by word of mouth which grew quickly. We tried to get our product out there to as many people as we could and gave away a lot of free product! The only way to know our product is to, of course, taste it. Visual appeal and consistency of brand messaging is also extremely important to us. Food professionals know that you first taste with your eyes. So we make sure our branding, our messaging and the look and feel of our desserts make your mouth water and make you want to try them. This is also where my years of experience in the entertainment industry regarding branding and messaging really helped. I can simply describe my desserts and people want to try them. I then show them a picture of them and they want to try them. I then give them a dessert to taste and just wait for the look on their face when they close their eyes that says they’re in heaven 🙂 I’m extremely proud of that! We are also eco-friendly and globally and socially conscious. We also love bringing people warm memories. This is also why we offer the dessert histories with each order. I found myself fascinated with the origins of each dessert in our collection, which keeps expanding. So I thought our customers would be equally fascinated. All cultures influence one other and we share more in common than we do have differences.

In terms of lessons learned, there are many. I always thought and knewe I needed business partners but was warned away from that for various reasons. I understood those reasons but it would have made a tremendous difference in the growth and revenue of the company sooner than later. Also, if I started with more confidence, and perhaps better consultants, I would have recognized that my brand would be considered high end and, because of this, would have reached out right away to the higher end market rather than starting off local and small. We love to sell to anyone who wants our products and want people of all socioeconomic backgrounds to be able to enjoy them. However, because of the high quality, the cost to make our products is a bit higher. So I would focus on where I know the market would be to bring in more revenue and growth sooner. That revenue would have allowed me to do other things sooner than later which are all part of the bigger plan.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well if my best friend was coming to visit Atlanta for the first time and I know them well enough to know what they like and don’t like, it would involve various categories in the itinerary. For example:

Visual appeal: I absolutely love the green rolling hills, forests, trees, farmland and mountains, as well as quaint sites to see and places to visit. So I would love to take them to places: like North Atlanta which includes Milton, Roswell, Alpharetta, Woodstock, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Vinings and the like. But would also take them to areas such as the Blue Ridge Mountains, the town of Blue Ridge, Ellijay and the like. I also love animals so love seeing the deer, horses, goats, chickens and everything in between! I love seeing all the living creatures!

Activities: I love country type things so maybe quaint places like Scottsdale Farms, downtown Woodstock, apple picking, wine tasting, botanical gardens, art galleries, tubing, bicycling, hiking, etc.

Food: As a foodie, and as someone who loves all kinds of food from around the world, if my friend was the same, I would take them to food destinations that I love. I love Asian food of all kinds. So Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, etc. I also love cute, quaint, warm places like Fellows Cafe, The Mill Kitchen and Bar, etc. and fun brunch places.

Performing Arts: I’m also extremely impressed with all of the performing arts venues that are in the area and you don’t even have to go all the way to downtown Atlanta. For example, Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center, Ameris Bank Amphitheater, Northside Cherokee Amphitheater in Woodstock, Cobb Energy Center, etc.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are many people and experiences in my life that I’d like to recognize as having supported me in my life’s journey.

My parents had a great influence through their recognition and appreciation of having a world view on all things and that empathy for others is very important. Acknowledging our differences but appreciating what we have in common gave me an awareness I might not have otherwise had.

Having wonderful and close friends, some of who were artistic, and others not, but their love and support through difficult emotional times for them and myself was instrumental. We were truly the best of friends and would be there for one another. We still are.

Certain childhood teachers and counselors really showed me empathy, love and concern at times when I couldn’t and didn’t find it elsewhere. They showed me that I mattered and that someone cared.

Website: sweetdetente.com

Instagram: sweet.detente

Twitter: @sweetdetente

Facebook: @sweetdetente