Subarzsweets, LLC is an online bakery/gift-giving service that launched in 2016 and has been making gifting easy and carefree for its clients. Subarz are a unique baked good that combine the crunch of mandelbread or biscotti with the sweetness of a cookie. Subarz are a perfect sweet treat and a delicious gift, either for yourself or for others. They are a crunchy, sweet, two-bite dessert, and it is hard to eat just one. With flavors ranging from Traditional Chocolate Chip to Gotcha Matcha to White Chocolate Raspberry, we have something for everyone, in various sizes and combinations.
Subarz was truly born out of a dream. Before I launched Subarzsweets, I was a lawyer, juggling my work schedule while raising my three daughters. I was always busy, but even so, I somehow always seemed to find time to bake. Whether it was making kosher for Passover mandelbread to share at a holiday dinner, making brownies for my daughters to bring to school potlucks, or whipping up a cake using my crockpot to treat my family at dinner, I was always baking something new in the kitchen. My family always used to joke that even with a recipe, I never made the same thing twice – I was always starting with a list of ingredients and improvising, adding in chocolate chips for extra sweetness, substituting in new ingredients to accomodate my daughters’ various allergies and dietary restrictions. When she was young, one of my daughters printed out a photo of a bakery with the words “Subars: All bars, one bakery” on it, and stuck it to the refridgerator. It lived there for years: always a dream that was waiting for “the right time”.
I enjoyed the law profession, but that bakery on the fridge stayed there – always in view, always in the back of my mind. When my oldest daughter was getting ready to graduate college in 2016, and was considering pursuing a career in theatre, I told her to go for it – that the most important thing was for her to pursue her passions and follow her dreams. My other two daughters turned around and asked “but what about yours?” And they were correct – maybe the right time was now.
So I put away my suits, and I took out my apron. I made some small investments, purchasing the basic elements I needed to start a bakery out of my kitchen – flour and chocolate, a website, some insurance, some packages, labels, and shipping equipment. I started off with just one flavor – Traditional Chocolate Chip Subarz – in just one size box and started baking Subarz to order. Quickly, the same people who had loved my baked goods – at school potlucks, and Passover seders, and around our dinner table, were putting in orders online. I was able to share my baking with family and friends across the country who normally wouldn’t be able to sit around the table with us.
Since then I’ve expanded year by year, almost exponentially. Six years in, it’s not just me anymore – I have an assistant and an intern and have transitioned to a commercial kitchen with baking assistants. We have over 20 varieties, including gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free options, seasonal flavors for holidays such as “BooBarz” for Halloween, and in the spring, we make many of our classic flavors kosher for Passover. You can buy Subarz in a variety of package sizes – and if you really love them like we do, you can subscribe to the Barz Club and get a variety of flavors delivered monthly. In addition to our vibrant online business, Subarz can also now be found at local coffee shops as well as locally through Grubhub, UberEats, Doordash and Postmates. We are excited that we will be expanding our retail presence in the next 12 months.
As with any small business, there are always challenges and those multiplied with the pandemic. Not only were there supply chain issues, it was difficult to hire and retain employees. We didn’t let the pandemic stop us or even slow us down. When Los Angeles shut down during the beginning of the pandemic, we realized we needed to do more. We donated Subarz to local healthcare providers to help make their new responsibilities and burdens just a little bit sweeter. We would surprise frontline workers who were nominated with Subarz delivered to their doorstop. We hired unemployed Angelinos to deliver Subarz locally, providing them with income and a job while waiting out the shutdown. We have always tried to give back to our community and support various local organizations including The Oscar Litwak Foundation, Sharsheret, GLSENLA, Sharsheret and Every Day Action.
We support other small businesses, and I am always willing to help others. My biggest piece of advice is to not let fear hold you back from following your passion and starting a business, if that is what you want to do. I reinvented myself midlife and surprised myself with how much I could learn and I have loved every minute of this journey. I wake up every day with a smile knowing that my business and my product is helping to make this crazy world just a little bit sweeter, bite by bite.
More information about Subarzsweets can be found at www.subarzsweets.com, or by following us on Instagram @Subarz or on Facebook @subarzsweets.
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