In our latest ‘What’s Cooking’, we hear from food entrepreneur, Simmone Logue of Simmone Logue Fine Food Company. Simmone, a trailblazer in the food and catering world began her cake business from a one bedroom flat back in 1990. Her beautiful food immediately caught people’s attention and her name became synonymous with quality, creativity and exceptional catering.
Twenty-five years on Simmone Logue is recognised for great retailing, innovative wholesaling and now as a cookbook author. We are proud to have her share with us what it took to get to a thriving and successful food business that today employs 60 people.
Simmone will be our guest speaker at Tipple and will be signing copies of her first cookbook, Simmone Logue in the Kitchen.
In this interview, Simmone shares moments of “success” that she quietly celebrated with herself. She also tells us what resources she started with back in 1990. It reminds us that great things start from small beginnings.
Your business name: Simmone Logue Fine Company
How would you describe the business you are in?
I’d describe my business the wholesale and retail of beautiful patisserie and home meals. The business also does fine food for catering and events.
Over 20 years have past…I still have the same commitment to food and love for what I do.
What do you love about your work?
I love the creative side of my work and how I have been able to build something from scratch into what is is today. I love working alongside other clever foodies and I am happiest in the kitchen.
What part of your job would you gladly give away?
I would gladly give away the amount of lugging when offsite catering.
If you were starting out in business again today, what piece of advice would you give your younger you?
Understand your numbers.
Women start business 41% of the time to solve a problem? Sometimes this means we have a great vision but don’t have enough resources to sustain our business for the long term. Tell us what resources you started your business with.
I had no money so I winged it in the early days by starting to bake my cakes at home. I then rented an old butcher shop in Balmain and borrowed two thousand dollars from a friend to buy an oven. He still believes he is responsible for where I am today. I had a great support from my friends and family and I had no fear.
As you know we are passionate about women #backingthemselves. So tell us about a time in the last twelve months that you’re really proud of.
Now my business is big enough not to be relying on me so much so I want to learn different crafts. I have just signed up for a bee keeping course and would also like to learn to make goats cheese and great sourdough.
The world is changing so fast and technology enables us to do so much more. We’re interested in which app you could not live without and why?
I love Instagram. As I am visual junky it is very inspiring to me. I am late for work every day because of it.
Why did you decide to become a member of Females in Food®
To simply share….and learn.
We love to celebrate the successes. Can you give us an example of how VIP Membership to Females in Food has positively impacted your business?
I will be able to spend time with like-minded women and get mentorship if needed.
Thank you Simmone, you are a beacon for women in the food industry.You continue to demonstrate that excellence, commitment and persistence pays off.
To read about other artisans running successful enterprises, join us and be a part of our growing VIP Member community here.
Want to read more about another successful Females in Food VIP Member? Check out our ‘What’s Cooking’ interview with Christine Manfield.
We’d love to hear your comments about what’s inspired you in this ‘What’s Cooking’ interview or any one of our other blog posts. At Females in Food we believe in many voices and know the importance of building a community. Your comments are important for women who may be feeling alone, just so they know they aren’t alone and there’s a big #empoweredcollective right behind them.
The Females in Food team