UN Women: Story of Irma Chkhaidze Founder of Bakery in Zemo Partskhma Village

"I had never worked anywhere until I was 50 years of age. I had been busy solely with homemaking. My life changed only after I returned from Tbilisi to live in my village. I won a grant through the government project “Enterprise Georgia” and opened a bakery in my house.

My husband is a food technologist, and baking bread had been his regular occupation. I studied this business from him, and despite being a novice, I was successful from the very beginning. Together with a female relative of mine, I started baking khachapuri, lobiani (Georgian traditional bean pies), buns, cookies, and cakes and selling them to schools. Then I applied again to “Enterprise Georgia”, won another grant, expanded my business, and started baking brown bread too.

Just then, I learned about the UN Women Georgia project, so I became active and involved in this initiative at the same time. This project gave me a strong motivation: I attended interesting meetings and training and got acquainted with amazing women. I became more sociable and presented my products at an exhibition. It was very moving for me when I made my first public speech at the age of 50. It meant a lot indeed. The sum of grant money that I acquired thanks to the project enabled me to purchase a multifunctional baking oven. With its help, I will be able to bake not only brown bread but various kinds of bread, white bread among them. If previously I was able to bake only around 800 loaves of bread daily, now I will be able to increase that number up to 2,000. Bread is a breathing creature. Everything – from kneading it to shaping and baking it – needs to be done on time. And besides, you have to handle it like a baby; you must do everything lovingly, as nothing will work otherwise. It is important for me that the bread I make is ecologically clean, without any additives.

I am very strict at controlling the quality of my bread, and if I see even a small visual defect, I never offer it for sale. I know that this product bears my name, and I feel especially responsible for its quality. Now I supply bread to different shops, but the demand is so high that I can’t meet the need. My hot “Partskhma Bread”, as they often call it, is very popular. I want to add some buns and cakes in the future again and open two bakery stands in Chokhatauri, where I will be able to employ other women as well. My example proves that you can start your own business at any age. It’s never too late. I never would have dreamed of winning a grant from either of these important projects nor that I would be able to become a successful entrepreneur.

Now I want to encourage other women to start their own businesses. In Georgia, it often happens that women go abroad in search of work and leave their families behind. If they had the opportunity to start their own business locally and employ other women too, the lives of many women would change for the better. Women in business mean diversity, wealth, quality and especially strengthening other women, doesn’t it“?

The story was prepared in the framework of the UN Women project “A Joint Action for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Georgia” supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs".