Hailing from Brazil and incorporating a healthy lifestyle, Liza Deubez found it challenging to live healthily in different environments where clean eating wasn’t popularised into what we know today.
Through her struggle, she founded and is now the CEO of Paletas Wey, a sweet treat of ice creams to encourage clean eating without the dread and guilt. Let’s meet Liza.
Hi Liza! We’d like to know more about you. Please introduce yourself.
My name is Liza Deubez. I’m from Brazil and have been living in Bali for seven years. My hobbies are reading and sports – especially outdoor sports.
One fun fact about me is I studied sales and marketing, and I’ve never thought of working with food although I love to cook. I never thought that I would set up my own ice cream factory in Indonesia, which is totally different from Brazil.
You’re currently residing in Bali. Share with us your thoughts on expat life in Bali and the reason behind your move.
One of the reasons I decided to move to Bali is because I fell in love with this island and the people here. When I saw the opportunity to start a business here, I didn’t even think twice to make it happen.
For me, personally, Bali offers wide opportunities for the expat community to grow their business here. As for the locals, I absolutely love them! Balinese people are very friendly, open-minded, and supportive.
Before founding Paletas Wey, you collected fundamental sales experience in your previous jobs. Has this helped pave the way to founding your own company?
Yes. With the majority of my work background in sales, this knowledge has become crucial and very helpful to founding my own company from bringing it as a small shop on a small street to being a manufacturer that distributes nationwide.
Briefly explain Paletas Wey; tell us about the company, the inspiration behind it, goals, and other relevant insights you’d like to share.
My inspiration came from my mother. She pushed and encouraged me to eat clean foods and live a healthy lifestyle since I was very young. She made ice creams, cakes, and juices. always using fruits with very low sugar added. As I grew up and moved out from my mother’s house and lived overseas by myself, I found it difficult to find this kind of supportive environment. Therefore, I made Paletas Wey to encourage all families in Indonesia to start to live a healthy lifestyle from a small thing like enjoying healthy delicious food without feeling guilty.
With many healthy ice cream brands in Bali, what makes Paletas Wey stand out?
Paletas Wey is the pioneer of healthy ice cream made from 100 percent real fruits in Indonesia. Our products are handmade with zero additives and colouring, also there’s very little sugar added. When I started Paletas Wey seven years ago, I’d never heard of or found any healthy or vegan ice cream in Bali or the rest of Indonesia.
I believe what has made Paletas Wey stand out is our concern and commitment to the quality of the product and always delivering what we promised as a brand to customers; an ice cream made from 100 percent real fruits and using only premium ingredients. Thus, we’ve created a product that’s not only delicious but also healthy.
Paletas Wey guarantees 100 percent healthy handmade products with intense flavours, colours, and textures. Tell us more about this.
Correct! Paletas Wey guarantees a product that is 100 percent handmade, starting from the process of picking the fruits from the farms and suppliers. Using only the best fruits, we peel, blend, and pack them manually. We’re very rigorous about the colouring, textures, taste, and quality standards as we don’ use any artificial flavours or colours. We strictly focus on the quality of fruits and all ingredients we use to make sure we have perfect products that have the best quality and taste.
What flavours are available? And what do you recommend for a first-time customer to try?
The flavours available this season are mango strawberry, durian, choco avocado, chocolate, vanilla Oreo, watermelon lime, strawberry kiwi, soursop tamarillo, caramel, lime strawberry, banana Nutella, and wild berries.
Well, it’s quite difficult to recommend just one flavour since we have designed the brand to serve all different palates! If I separate them, the “water-based” are vegan and fresh, I will say watermelon lime and mango strawberry. For the “milk-based” ones which are creamy and rich in taste, I will say wild berries and durian. If customers are looking for a completely new experience, I will recommend one of our filling Paleta; the caramel with melted caramel inside.
Say a customer follows a plant-based diet or is lactose intolerant. Are there options for them too?
Yes, we do have options! We have a fruity category and we are really concerned about it. We have been working to bring a wide range of options on this upcoming season to our customers that are lactose intolerant and plant-based!
Do you have any plans to incorporate essences from your surroundings in Bali into future products?
Paletas Wey products are using fresh fruits from Bali and all over Indonesia. Only our wild berries and kiwi flavours are using imported fruits. Our strawberries and mangos are from Bali; durians are from Medan; and avocados are from Java.
Do you consider yourself an ice cream connoisseur?
Not really. As I said, I came from a very different background and I am still in the learning process. I study a lot, take courses, and do research, but I am still far from being an expert. Creating high-quality ice creams is an art and I’m not just talking about the technique. To be an expert, you need to keep learning, exploring, and lots of trial and error.
What’s next for you and Paletas Wey?
To be a worldwide company recognised for offering a complete line of healthy and reliable products for all ages and all family members.
How can our readers get in touch with you and Paletas Wey?
They can reach us on our official website www.paletaswey.com and our social media channels @paletaswey on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, or through the customer service line at +62 8113 868 833. If anyone wants to reach me personally, they can send me an email at [email protected]
Thank you, Liza! Stay safe and healthy!