São Paulo – The company Mineirin Egypt turned one year in January supplying the people of Cairo with pães de queijo. The 38-years-old Brazilian founder Ana Paula Rothstein Ramos de Lima manufactures the classical recipe as well as vegan and light alternatives. Sales are online, and the entrepreneur has even created a platform for that: Brazilian Table.
Born in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, the entrepreneur discovered Egypt as a tourist back in 2010. Then, her husband and she were called to work as volunteers for 18 months, and they were hired eventually. “In Brazil, we’d worked for many years at the same organization that is present in over 120 countries around the world. Then we were called to work at the headquarters of the organization in Cairo. And this was a turning point in our life,” Lima told
Although she is not from Minas Gerais, the entrepreneur says she learned the recipe at home. “I was raised in Santa Catarina eating pão de queijo. It has always been a homey thing. I’ve always made pão de queijo, especially after I married a man from Minas,” she muses.
She used to work in Communication and Marketing when, after having her second daughter, she decided to pause and rethink her career. “After six months of unpaid maternity leave, I was in a group chat on WhatsApp with some friends, and one of them asked who knew how to make pão de queijo, and someone said I did,” she recalls.
Used to make the recipe to receive friends at home, she saw her friends’ question as an answer for her professional life. “It clicked on me. ‘This is something I could do with the girls at home,’ I realized. I did the math, and I had all the materials at home to make some five kilograms. It was hard to find polvilho, so I always purchased a lot. And that’s how it began. The following week I received more orders. I came up with the name, made the Instagram account. And so Mineirin Egypt was born on January 26, 2021,” Lima said.
Brazilian food on the table
The sales of Mineirin were first made via contacts on WhatsApp. As the brand grew, the communicator decided to create a platform for promoting and selling products from Brazil. “In October, we launched Brazilian Table, a virtual store in partnership with Jardim Brazil and Sweet Brazil, both brands by Brazilian women. Under my management and with the support of an investor friend from Brazil, [Brazilian Table] could include other people to create small deals,” she said.
To take the Brazilian cuisine to more clients, Lima also participates in events to sell and promote the products by Mineirin. “My dream is taking pão de queijo to hotels, coffeeshops, restaurants. I’ve talked with a major businessman of a supermarket chain. Last November we partnered up with a delivery company. This is our greatest challenge here in Cairo, as we can’t afford to have our own delivery service,” she clarifies.
The brand has also made combos with her main product and other Brazilian delicacies like coxinha and brigadeiro. She has also created variations of pão de queijo with a light version made with an Egyptian 0%-fat cheese and skimmed milk and a vegan option. There’s also a premium line with imported Parmesan.
The entrepreneur has also promoted a more recent product, tapioca. To maintain the brand, Lima explains she is supported by her friends, family, and more recently an assistant. “We always have a support network to make things happen, so I’m very grateful. Now I have an assistant and an advertising agency. And we are structuring a communication plan for this year,” she finished.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
