#GetToKnow: Guyana’s Chantal Jagoo and Lil Blondie Bakery
During the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Chantal Jagoo decided it was the perfect time for her to start baking brownies from scratch. “I asked my mom to pick me up some dark chocolate chips from the supermarket but all she could find was white chocolate chips. She brought those home and I decided to try baking blondies along with the brownies. I had heard of blondies from a TV show and knew they were made with white chocolate so this was the perfect opportunity to try them out. The brownies came out okay but the blondies were an instant hit,” said Chantal.
Thus began a journey of experimenting and baking blondies for her friends and family who encouraged her to turn her hobby into a business. While it took some convincing as she did not believe she could do it due to lacking business experience, in December of 2020 she decided to take orders for Christmas to test the waters. Given its success, in January of 2021 Chantal officially launched her business and had her very first pop-up shop. Chantal believes Lil Blondie offers a product that is not common in Guyana, thus allowing her to carve out her niche in the bakery sector.
“Before I started, I personally had never come across other bakery businesses selling Blondies. A blondie is a white chocolate brownie or a blond brownie. They are made from white chocolate and vanilla. They are very very rich in terms of their vanilla flavour which differentiates them from brownies which are a rich cocoa flavour. In their most basic form blondies are just white chocolate and vanilla. I started with four flavours, classic, oreo flavour, walnut and M&M. Eventually I started doing mocha blondies, peanut butter, and red velvet which was a huge hit. Even though I specialise in one product, it is endlessly customizable so there is variety still. I also make cookies.”
Baking however is not a new foray for Chantal. As she explains it, it is something that runs in her family. “My grandmother was a baker and used to bake novelty cakes and pastries and so on. We still have some of her cake pans, baking tools, and decorations. My mom would bake too, although not professionally like my grandmother. I grew up around it and it was something I always wanted to get into myself but before the pandemic I just didn’t have the time. I took the opportunity to get into it during lockdown. It was fun and rather therapeutic.”
Despite the joy and successes she has experienced from her business, she shared that there can often be challenges related to the availability and cost of ingredients. “The cost has especially been an issue lately due to the rise in groceries costs. Naturally I’ve had to raise my own prices to stay afloat but the problem that arises there is that I’ve seen a decrease in sales. The second challenge is just the sheer amount of time and effort that it takes to get everything baked when I have large orders but that’s part of the job and I always feel so proud of myself at the end of it.”
Those interested in Lil Blondies can contact Chantal at:
