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Larissa and Yuri created “Me Lambuzei” in São Lourenço using Grandma Jurema’s recipes and turned artisanal jams into a national business.
When the pandemic dismantled plans, closed doors, and plunged thousands of small entrepreneurs into financial difficulties, a couple from the countryside of Minas Gerais found a way out where they least expected. Instead of investing in a new tech company, franchise, or large-scale business, Larissa and Yuri turned their attention to something that had always been at home: Grandma Jurema’s recipes. It was from this emotional heritage, built among pots, fruits, sweets, and family memories, that Me Lambuzei was born, a brand created in São Lourenço, in the south of Minas, which started producing jams at home in 2020 and today sends products to different regions of Brazil, maintaining an artisanal process based on fruits, sugar, and family techniques.
Financial crisis during the pandemic led Larissa and Yuri to seek a solution within their own kitchen
The story of Me Lambuzei began at a time of strong financial instability. According to a report published by the portal O Mestre Geleieiro, Larissa and Yuri faced difficulties after the closure of activities related to the pandemic period and lived with debts and uncertainties about the future.
It was during a simple conversation with her grandmother, Mrs. Jurema, that the idea arose that would change the family’s course. Larissa mentioned that she missed good strawberry jams and heard a direct response from her grandmother: making it at home would be cheaper and would allow reproducing flavors she had known since childhood.
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The seemingly common suggestion ended up turning into an opportunity. Larissa started testing recipes while Yuri helped in structuring the brand and the creative part of the business.
The first jams were made at home using recipes taught by Grandma Jurema
According to the trajectory reported by the company itself, the first flavors produced were precisely those that Larissa learned by watching her grandmother throughout her life.
Among them were blackberry, strawberry, and red fruit jams, traditional family recipes that became the foundation for the brand’s products. The blackberry jam was the first to be commercially produced because the fruit was abundant at the grandmother’s house.
The production started in an extremely simple manner, using the available domestic space and limited resources. At a certain point, according to the account published by the portal specialized in artisanal jams, the couple had to decide between investing in the purchase of materials for production or prioritizing basic household expenses.
The name “Me Lambuzei” emerged while the couple was trying to turn a family recipe into a business
With the first tests approved, Larissa and Yuri decided to create an identity for the products. It was during this period that the brand Me Lambuzei was born, a name chosen to represent the affectionate, homemade, and relaxed nature of the jams produced by the couple.
Yuri took on the creation of labels, promotion, and positioning of the company, while Larissa focused her efforts on production.
The first units were sold in a family friend’s emporium. According to the company’s account, the acceptance was immediate, and the products quickly started gaining space.
Growth in sales forced the couple to leave the improvised kitchen and create their own structure
With increasing demand, the domestic production started to become too small to meet the orders. After about a year of operation, Larissa and Yuri rented a space to expand activities and later created the so-called Casa da Geleia, a structure dedicated exclusively to the production of Me Lambuzei products.
The new phase allowed for better organization of production and division of roles. While Larissa remained focused on preparing the jams, Yuri took on the commercial area, customer service, communication, and client relations.
Production remains artisanal and uses fruits, sugar, and traditional techniques without preservatives
One of the central points of the brand is precisely the maintenance of the artisanal method. According to information from the company and the portal O Mestre Geleieiro, the jams are produced with selected fruits, crystal sugar, and manual processes that include washing, cutting, and preparing the fruits with virtually no heavy industrialization.
The production does not use artificial preservatives, chemical thickeners, or industrialized pectin. Preservation occurs through the manufacturing process itself and the appropriate proportion between fruit and sugar.
The company also claims to prioritize local and regional fruits acquired from producers in Minas Gerais whenever possible.
Tangerine jam became a symbol of the brand and helped to expand national recognition
Over time, new flavors were incorporated into the catalog. Among them, the tangerine jam ended up becoming one of the products most associated with the company’s identity. According to Larissa, the recipe was born from childhood memories and the tangerines grown at her grandmother’s house.
In addition to jams, the brand also expanded its range to sauces, antipasti, and other artisanal products sold through the official online store and partner establishments in different regions of the country.
What started as a family recipe became a Minas Gerais brand built around emotional memory
In a market dominated by large industries, preservatives, mass production, and widespread distribution, the journey of Me Lambuzei followed a different path.
The company was born from recipes taught by Dona Jurema, grew within an improvised kitchen, and transformed family memories into an operation that today reaches consumers beyond São Lourenço.
More than selling jams, Larissa and Yuri built a brand based on something that hardly appears in spreadsheets or industrial production lines: the attempt to transform childhood flavors, family stories, and recipes passed down through generations into a business capable of crossing the country inside a jar.
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