Meet Alvaro Oliveira

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alvaro Oliveira. 

Hi Alvaro, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
We are a family business owned which started with the desire to do something simple, with high quality and that could provide a differentiated experience for people’s lives. Initially, we researched the purchase of a business that was already ongoing, but we ended up choosing to do something new. 

We started the company just my wife and I and the first big challenge was to discover all the rules involved in the business we were setting up. 

Completing the entire process of creating the product, branding, packaging, renovation of the building, and licensing required a year of hard work and dedication. 

We deep in a completely new world for us at all points. The only thing previously known was the product – Cheese Bread – Brazilian Style. 

We are from Brazil, and we thought that would be great to bring this very popular snack to US. My wife is originally from Brazilian State where the Cheese Bread is come from, so we started to work to adapt the original recipe to the US reality. 

Then we have decided our mission would be to provide practicality to people’s lives at any moment of the day, positively surprising with the versatility that our products offer, always delivering an extremely tasty and pleasant experience for everyone, which is guaranteed above all by the high-quality guidance from the selection of ingredients, going through the whole process until the final product. 

Marina, my wife, took classes for all kind of food preparation we thought would be good for the business, including Institute of Culinary in NYC. Also, she got her Food Management Process certificate (Food Protection Manager, approved by MDARD and Safe Food Program in Michigan. 

After all this done, we started to produce and introduce this snack on the Markets close to us. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all! There are so many challenges to be transposed and they show up all the time from all directions. The most important thing is kept yourself motivated to not give up. During the whole process, the main drive was “do not stop and let’s keep working; we will get this done.” Sometimes slowdown is necessary but never stop. 

License process is not easy. You need to go through all details and take care of every single small thing. The remodel process and everything else which involve different vendors and suppliers are also very attention catch. Different prices, levels of quality are not the same, so everything demands a lot of research, talk, and patience. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In Brazil, I use to work for big Companies, where basically I was head of back office (Shared Service Centers) and my wife was Commercial Manager, also for big Companies. We came to US to support part of my family which were here, going through a rough time. The original plan was stay for some time, just enough to help them out then probably go back to Brazil, but to make a long story short, here we are. 

We started to help the family on a business they already had here – where I’m still working, then this second opportunity came, and we decided to move forward. 

What’s next?
Our big dream is growing up our portfolio with some new products, being in good marketplaces, always going on the direction we have decided as our mission. Not big changes; just keep moving on direction as we started. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.flavoreatfoods.com
• Instagram: @flavoreatfoods
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087440772322