Before becoming one of the largest networks cafeterias of the country, Cheirin Bão was, in the words of the founder himself, a problem.
“Cheirin Bão already existed and came to us as a problem for us. It was a business that wouldn’t stop standing”, says Wilton Bezerra, CEO and founding partner of the brand in an interview with From Zero to Topa program that tells stories of successful entrepreneurs.
When Wilton and his partner, Eduardo Schroeder, took over the operation in 2016, they found a fragile and poorly scalable structure.
“It was small, with about eight kiosks and only sold coffee, cheese bread, dulce de leche,” says Bezerra. “We can’t expand. Let’s reformulate, let’s reformat the franchise.”
Educate to consume
The restructuring, according to the CEO, required tough measures. The solution was to compensate franchisees and start over.
“We compensated those franchisees who existed to create a new business model. We moved to Empório Mineiro Cheirin Bão. We increased the mix, and brought all the storytelling, the different coffees. That’s when we really started to create a brand.”
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From this turning point, a new concept was born. The next challenge was to explain to the public what a special coffee was. For Bezerra, more than selling, it was necessary to teach.
“Specialty coffee, no one knew what it was. There are businesses where you first educate the customer and then they can consume it. Without education, they won’t consume that product.”
And the strategy used to achieve this was to bring preparation to the center of the experience. While the coffee was brewing, our team was explaining to the customer what was different about that coffee, why it was clearer.
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Today, the scale reflects this transformation. There are more than 800 stores in operation, annual revenue of more than R$500 million and an international expansion plan for this year.
“It was no longer a coffee shop, it was a business that had its own way of being. It was no longer supported by one sector”, concludes Wilton.
To find out more details about Cheirin Bão’s trajectory, see the full episode on . The program is available in its podcast version on the main streaming platforms such as , , , and
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About From Zero to Top
The Do Zero ao Topo podcast 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.
