Dulce Limited is co-owned by Paula Iliescu and her husband Alexandru and now spans three shops across east London, with two in Romford.
Paula attended a Keep it Local event at Havering Town Hall for independent businesses across the borough this month where she spoke to the Recorder about taking on a business with no experience, introducing new foods to Havering and opening their latest store in South Street.
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“The aim of the business was always to try and get people to try different foods which is really working now since we opened our South Street location,” Paula said.
Paula and Alexandru Iliescu took over Dulce Limited as Paula’s mother expanded into Romford in 2013 (Image: Dulce Limited) “We have different people from different backgrounds come in and try our food which, for me, is just great – it’s my main satisfaction after the headache of starting a business.”
Paula’s mother founded Dulce Limited in 2005 with a small cake shop in Newbury Park.
The business then moved to a larger location in the Brewery shopping centre in 2013 where Paula and Alexandru stepped in to help.
This was the first of three Dulce Limited shops still in operation today across east London – the other Romford site sits in South Street whilst a branch in Hainault specialises in cakes.
“We found a location in the Brewery shopping centre and it was a bit too big for just a cake shop so we looked around the area and found that there was no eastern European food around so we decided we would bring in the groceries as well as the cakes,” said Paula.
“That went really well for us because now in Romford there is a huge eastern European community.
“Not only that, we’re delighted that people from all backgrounds come and try our food and then come back for it.”
Paula and Alexandru opened the South Street branch on April 6 last year offering hot food and a grab-and-go concept.
“With the third location, it was just a case of adding what we were missing – people kept asking us to make bread, pastries and even set up a restaurant,” said Paula.
“We opened a bakery here with all homemade products – our head chef makes all her own recipes and we worked on these many months before we actually opened.
Paula explained that most of the dishes are traditional Romanian food but also “recognisable” to most people.
“At our South Street location we have what we call the window hatch which allows us to serve food quickly through a little window.
“It’s open for coffees, pastries and sandwiches from 7am. People can just walk past, grab their food through the window and get on with their day – no time wasted for anyone and it’s great for commuters.”
Paula admitted that she had “no retail or culinary” background before taking on Dulce Limited but “got lucky and found the right people to come on the journey with us”.
“It is a family owned and oriented business so all our staff either are our family or are just like our family – we’re all very close.”
According to Paula, there are no plans to open any new stores but she is looking forward to offering catering services in the near future.
