06/23/2024 – 15:53
Franuí, an Argentine sweet that became known in Brazil after going viral on social media last year, has just gained a Brazilian competitor: BerryBites. The new national sweet is already sold in markets focused on upper-class audiences in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and should reach other capitals soon.
Franuí went viral in the midst of the Argentine economic crisis, which brought thousands of Brazilian tourists to the country. Digital influencers then began to share their experiences on social media knowing and tasting the sweet: a frozen raspberry dipped in two layers of chocolate, in white/milk or white/dark flavors.
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BerryBites is similar, but differs in that it uses sugar-free chocolate. “I wanted to make indulgent food, but one that wouldn’t weigh on my conscience”, explains Ricardo Cotrim, owner of the Brazilian company. Furthermore, the national sweet debuts with two fruit options, raspberry and blueberry, and with the plan to launch new flavors soon.
Another difference is the size, 100 grams per pot versus 150 grams per package of Franuí. The idea was to leave the product as an individual portion, in addition to reducing cost. While a jar of Franuí is sold for around R$35, Berrybytes costs R$25.
The choice of markets where the product began to be sold – São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro – was not random. “They [os mercados] They have a young, health-conscious audience, classes A and B, who prioritize quality products”, explains the entrepreneur.
The idea
Amid the “viralization” of Franuí, Ricardo says he was approached by the owner of a supermarket chain. “It was this client who asked me, because he had difficulty buying Franuí”, he says. “I was studying a food company, so I thought: it can be done.”
Contrim was then CEO of a fruit distributor, BeBerry, which grows blueberries on a farm in the city of Amparo, in the interior of São Paulo. On the same farm, there was a stopped manufacturing structure for Búfalo Dourado, another Cotrim company, a dairy producer sold two years ago to the investment fund Aqua Capital.
“It already had a cold chamber, the electrical part, the hydraulics, a lot of the investment was already there”, says Cotrim. “We built a mini factory, a ‘little laboratory’ to test making the product. We were able to make a thousand pots a day at that point.”
With an investment of around R$2 million, it was possible to deliver in mid-May 2024 a batch of 20 thousand BerryBites to the Zona Sul markets, in Rio de Janeiro, and to the Casa Santa Luzia and St. Marche chains, in São Paul.
Next steps
In June, new equipment began to arrive at the factory and, by August, Ricardo believes it will have a production capacity of 80 thousand units per month.
Conversations have also started with other supermarket chains. By the end of July, the product should be available in Curitiba (PR) and, shortly after, it will be launched in Belo Horizonte (MG).
Ricardo Cotrim’s expectation is to have revenues between R$ 1.5 million and 1.8 million by December. “It’s a long way to get there,” he says. In the first month, he says he earned R$100,000.
As for investments, he plans to reach R$10 million over the next two years in items such as equipment and logistics.
For marketing, BerryBites invests in campaigns with influencers on social networks and in tastings and promotional material at points of sale. “For this type of product, it is the most appropriate,” says Cotrim.
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