The history of Casa de Bolos began in Ribeirão Preto, in the interior of São Paulo, in 2010, when , decided that it wanted undertake. According to him, the decision took the entire family by surprise.
“My mother came to us and said: ‘I need to work. I want to bake cake'”, recalls Fabrício. “We imagined a café, a bakery, a wedding cake… but she insisted: ‘I want to make this simple cake that you’re eating here’”, he says.
The simple cake that Dona Sônia wanted so much to make was cornmeal, a traditional family recipe, handwritten in her great-aunt’s notebook and that everyone loved. The initial plan was not intended to become a big business. The kids just wanted to create something simple enough for their mother to play alone. “It was a business created to fulfill her dream, not to be a big brand”, recalls Fabrício, now commercial director of Casa de Bolos.
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Ramos participated in the program From Zero to Top and in a tasty and inspiring conversation he told a little about how his mother, Sônia Ramos, decided to start a business after 60 and inspired the whole family to follow the same purpose. The four children took on the challenge of transforming the homemade cake into a national brand.
Simplicity as a business strategy
The first store, in the center of Ribeirão Preto, attracted attention in the first few months. There were no tables, no coffee. Only whole cakes to go. Within a few months, candidates began to appear to understand the model. In 2011, the business became a franchise.
“People asked: ‘But why this store that only sells whole cakes and has a queue? We were closed with the purpose of selling a simple cake to take home. Our objective, and especially my mother’s, was to make the cake an instrument of unity, to get the family back to the table”, says Fabrício.
The apple and chestnut cake is the most sold individually, but Fabrício guarantees that the star of the brand is still the cornmeal cake.
From afternoon coffee to the franchise model
Fabrício’s mother brought her four children back together, each living in different cities. Little by little, everyone left their careers to dedicate themselves to the company. According to Fabrício, the biggest difficulty was never selling. It was about keeping the business true to its essence. “We never had any doubt that it would work. It was difficult to stay focused and not fall into market temptations.”
Today, the whole family continues in the business. Fabrício takes care of expansion and sales, while his brother Eduardo, who now lives in Portugal, manages the internationalization of the brand. Daniel is in charge of operations and administration, while the youngest of the brothers, Rafael, takes care of the company’s marketing. And, Ms. Sônia, who will turn 80 in 2026, continues to be in charge of the recipes.
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“She still works today. We say: ‘Mom, it’s over…’ and she responds: ‘I’m not going to stop'”, she says with a laugh. “No decision is made alone. If it’s not good for the franchisee and the consumer, don’t go into business.”
Today, Casa de Bolos has a turnover of close to R$700 million, more than 650 stores in Brazil, one in Portugal and sells 60 thousand cakes a day “That’s a lot of cake! To give you an idea, it’s the height of Mount Everest. So if we put one cake on top of another, we’ll go to the peak of Everest. It’s not the top yet, but it’s close”, jokes the commercial director.
O Monte Everest It is the highest mountain in the world and reaches 8,848 meters above sea level.
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International expansion
The brand already operates its own unit in Portugal, used as a test for entry into Europe. “Portugal is a laboratory. When we are ready, we will expand. 2026 promises”, concludes the businessman
To find out all the details about the company’s history and learn more about the strategy for the future, watch the full episode on . The program is available in and in its podcast version on the main streaming platforms such as , , , and .
About From Zero to Top
O podcast From Zero to Top is a production of InfoMoney and brings, every week, the stories of prominent women and men in the Brazilian market to tell their story, sharing the biggest challenges faced along the way and the main strategies used in building the business.
