São Paulo – Chocollate Brazil, headquartered in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, has been in existence for just one year and has already begun its brand internationalisation process. In March, the first load of products was shipped to Hawaii and negotiations continue with importers in Germany, England, Spain and Jamaica.
"Negotiations with Jamaica are already advanced and should be concluded in coming days. With the countries in Europe, due to the crisis, it may take a little longer," said Gérson Salvi Cunha, one of the owners of Chocollate Brazil.
The opening of the new markets like Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, is also in the company plans. "Dubai is our consumer dream, due to the buying power of the region and to being a greatly sought tourist destination. We are very interested in the Emirate, but we have not yet had the opportunity to contact any importer or retailer there," said Cunha.
Chocollate Brasil was born with a foot in the foreign market. The brand proposal is to reach a public that seeks the elegance and discretion of larger models, without leaving aside the beauty and colour of Brazilian bikinis. "These are exactly the models preferred by foreigners. That is why we do not need to adapt the models," he pointed out.
The idea of creating a bikini brand that had as its characteristics working with larger models arose from the professional experience of another partner of Chocollate Brazil. "Daniela owned a shop and heard many complaints from clients who only found bikinis for women with model bodies. That was when she noticed the opportunity of working with a product for those clients," she explains.
Planning
Before setting up the company, in April 2008, both young owners of Chocollate Brazil – Gérson is aged 24 and Daniela, 25 – researched the market and elaborated an eight-month business plan to start the enterprise.
In the case of Chocollate Brazil, the company’s own production unit managed to produce a record 2,000 items to establish the brand shop in Atlântida Sul, a beach on the north shore of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, after the outsourced company that produced the items could not supply the number of orders. Immediately, the company was obliged to invest in machinery and specialized labour to replenish products.
"Before investing in our own production, we had an outsourced company that produced for our shop on the coast. As the number of orders rose and we could not stop production, we set up our own structure, we bought machines and hired seamstresses. In the months of November, December and January we worked hard and had excellent revenues with sales," said Cunha.
The company has also been aiming to reach new markets as a way to expand its target clientele. On this new front came the shops in the cities of Porto Alegre and Atlântida, in Rio Grande do Sul; Florianópolis, Garopaba and Balneário Camboriú, in Santa Catarina; Rio de Janeiro; and Fortaleza, Ceará.
The small factory, which produced around 4,000 bikinis in April 2008 and March 2009, employs five people. Now the creation team is working on preparation for the release of the 2010 collection, scheduled to be released at the end of this month. "We are still in the modelling and fabric choice phase. Up to July or August we should have the catalogue of our new collection ready for the start of sales," said the businessman.
Contact
E-mail: chocollate@chocollate.com.br
Site: www.chocollate.com.br
Telephone: (+55 11) 3019-9094
*Translated by Mark Ament
