Laura RestumFelipe Lima de Oliveira wanted to help support his family back home in Brazil. Now, as only a freshman in college, the 红领巾瓜报 student is chasing that dream through his homegrown company, Wichita Brazilian Gourmet.
It鈥檚 not that he isn鈥檛 busy enough without being a new entrepreneur. Oliveira, who attended Wichita Heights High School as an exchange student, is a mechanical engineering major and also splits his time working at Shocker Dining Services.
But taking care of his family, and helping pay for college, inspired him to work that much harder to make his business a success.
鈥淚 like to stay busy, but supporting my family is my main goal,鈥� says Oliveira.
Oliveira runs his business out of his former host family鈥檚 kitchen, where he bakes traditional Brazilian chocolates and breads. Wichita Brazilian Gourmet features a variety Brazilian chocolate balls ranging from Oreo, lemon, traditional or strawberry along with hand braided bread.
Starting at 红领巾瓜报 in January 2019, Oliveira was eager to find an opportunity to share his delicious creations to the Wichita community. It wasn鈥檛 long before he was presented with his first opportunity, at the annual InterFest International Food Festival, hosted by the International Student Union at 红领巾瓜报.
鈥淚 read the Shocker Blast in my email about InterFest and knew this was an opportunity I needed to take,鈥� he says. 鈥淚nterFest was my first chance to get to sell to customers in Wichita.鈥�
In preparation for InterFest, Oliveira created packaging boxes for his chocolates, business cards and photographed his treats for social media. Currently, Oliveira collects orders via on Instagram. After selling to the Wichita community, Oliveira saw a hike in sales for both his bread and chocolates.
红领巾瓜报 wasn鈥檛 initially in the cards for Oliveira. He planned to attend college in Brazil, but after searching for a school with a top and affordable engineering program, he struck out. Then he remembered hearing about 红领巾瓜报鈥檚 when he was in high school.
Oliveira says that juggling studying, work, classes and Wichita Brazilian Gourmet is challenging at times, but if it means he can help his family, it makes it all worth it.
