Your lunchbreak, sorted at... The Turkish Delight - Mediterranean Sweetery

AEDA SA wants to make your lunchbreak lunch choices easier so, each fortnight, a CBD or North Adelaide eatery is featured as part of Your Lunchbreak, Sorted so you can ditch sad sandwiches, get a tasty dish and support local traders across the city. In our third edition, we catch up with The Turkish Delight - Mediterranean Sweetery owner, Mona Hassan.

Adelaide Central Market trader Mona Hassan’s confectionary is known for delighting customers not just at lunchtime, but all day long.

Her daughter makes Turkish Delight in her Melbourne factory that Ms Hassan then sells in her stall– and she is never short on customers.

Ms Hassan says everyone “just loves” her family’s authentic product, with more than 30 flavours that give a taste of Istanbul in one bite.

“When I started selling Turkish Delight (at the Market Producer in Residence) in the corner of the Adelaide Central Market I would cut all the flavours up and pass them around to customers,” Ms Hassan says.

“There were flavours like blackberry, mango and so many others, and now we have people coming in all the time to get their favourite flavour regularly.

“People now go to the market to shop around for their fruit and veggies then come to me for sweets and desserts.”

Ms Hassan’s late father encouraged her to learn business skills and lean on her for entrepreneurial ambitions.

Through him, she learnt the importance of management, organisation, negotiation, sacrifice, hard work and reward.

It is something she has passed on to her daughter who first started selling the family’s Turkish Delight, which is gluten and dairy free, in Melbourne.

“It was doing so well in Melbourne, so I thought why not Adelaide,” Ms Hassan says.

“The very first time I sold the product I got a few kilograms from her, and we were sold out by our second week.

“I never thought we would open a shop in the Adelaide Central Market, but so many people wanted us to stay.”

Whether her customers are coming to get lunch from other stallholders across the Market, an afternoon pick-me-up or delightful present for someone special, Ms Hassan says honesty is the best policy.

She tells her customers there are no nasties and all her products cater to a health-conscious lifestyle.

“For us, it is about the service, quality and price … if our customers ask questions we always answer them,” Ms Hassan says.

“Sometimes when our customers go to Melbourne they talk to my daughter and then they will FaceTime me together.

"Our customers are so important.”