Establishing the business required the construction of the mother’s property – a second workshop is now planned to be built

Lilija says that she herself came from Kėdainiai, but as a child she moved with her parents to live in the district, the village of Piliamantas.

Looking back on her childhood, she says that she has always been a rancher, has been able to milk cows for 11 years, and the fear of getting her hands dirty has served her well in life.

“It even became a business,” he says with a smile.

For two years, her cheese-making workshop “Lilės sūriai” has been installed near Lilija’s house, although the beginning of the cheese production, according to her, was at her home, and she treated all her neighbors with products.

“I dreamed of having my own cheese shop and it really wasn’t easy,” he sighs. “First we had to persuade the husband and the husband, the mother-in-law, to pledge their property so that we could get a business loan.”

Lily says she remembers perfectly how she went to the notary with her mother-in-law.

“If it weren’t for his property, he wouldn’t have received 40 thousand. Loans in euros. But she and her husband believed in me a lot, and when the difficulties arose, I was very motivated to hang out, not give up and move on, because the loan had to be repaid in three years, which is coming to an end soon. soon, in May ”, he says openly.

For a long time, the woman says that she has not even doubted that she will start making cheese, because she has loved dairy products since she was little.

“I already had five cows at the age of 19, and as a child I would go to my neighbors outside the bucket to drink the milk of a freshly milked cow. I had a fairy tale here. This is how fate pushed him. The cheeses suit me well, I like them and I like them ”, he says.

Lilija assures that after receiving the loan, she started working, was helped by an architect and also bought equipment.

“In general, starting a business was not easy, certainly not everyone could do it.

Over time, workers, electricity bills and other taxes appeared before which the available loan simply vanished. It was difficult to maintain the workshop. I remember going to the market to keep things working, ”he mentions, but says that difficult times are now a thing of the past, and then the partners who saved the situation, the broader sale of their cheeses and products have appeared in one of major retail chains.

“I have a job, not just a job, but a pleasure, I realize myself,” she smiles and says that working just to earn money is not for her.

“Everything is because it is interesting because it is like that,” he adds.

When the pandemic broke out, he said, the workshop had been in operation for just 8 months and was already up and running, but the imposed quarantine had spoiled things again.

“The state has helped us a lot, we have received subsidies for downtime,” he says.

Speaking of recipes, Lily admits that the boy’s baptismal father taught her how to make one of the nine cheeses made today, and all the others are her own ideas.

Today, the company has 11 employees, and she herself says that she only goes to the workshop to adjust the work.

“Every morning I come to the workshop and inspect every corner, but I don’t have to look at how my staff works, I tell you how many types of cheese are needed and how much. I still see them, why take me to which restaurant, “he says.

The businesswoman mentions that now her plans are the development, the appearance of new products and the construction of a new workshop. Lily says she doesn’t know yet when a new workshop might emerge.

“We are not going to do without a loan,” he says, but dreams that in the future a small shop for his products may appear near the workshop.