EXPORTING STORIES: Love for coffee drives Café Caiçara’s ambitious plans

His love for coffee was what motivated João Pignatta to buy a small roasting business in the city of Jundiaí, in the interior of São Paulo, in 1950. That’s how Café Caiçara came to be. The passion was passed down from generation to generation and, today, it is up to Renata Pignatta — the founder’s granddaughter — to continue the successful trajectory of the family business, which has just celebrated its 74th anniversary.

In this new article in a series of reports about inspiring stories of entrepreneurs who decided to export their products, we will show how Café Caiçara conquered Jundiaí and the region and how it intends to do the same with coffee lovers around the world.

Success story

When it first started, Café Caiçara offered only two products: roasted ground coffee and roasted coffee beans. These items remain the company’s star products to this day. As the years went by and the aroma gained more fans, the company created by João Pignatta expanded its coffee portfolio.

EXPORTING STORIES: learn about the history of the Aleccra company, in the fashion and clothing sector, which stood out with beachwear in Santa Catarina

EXPORTING STORIES: learn about the trajectory of a company from the interior of SP that already exports açaí to more than 20 countries

EXPORTING STORIES: learn about the trajectory of an artisanal cachaça producer from Tocantins who is preparing to export

In 1964, the company launched four varieties of roasted and ground coffee: Traditional, Extra Strong, Superior, Gourmet and Decaffeinated. But it didn’t stop there, says Renata Pignatta. “We updated our portfolio, introducing new products, such as coffee capsules, instant coffee, cappuccino and paper filters. We became the company we are thanks to our efforts and the rigorous quality standards of our products,” she believes.

The success built over the decades has been so great that the company is no longer just a company. It is the Caiçara Alimentos Group — which has acquired other regional coffee brands.

New dreams

Although Café Caiçara has been part of her life since she was little, it was only in 2016 — after graduating as an agricultural engineer and gaining experience in the job market — that Renata started working with her father at the company.

As soon as she arrived, she proposed something challenging. “I brought this idea of ​​us trying to expand our market to foreign trade,” she recalls.

Renata already knew where the company could find theoretical and practical support to expand sales beyond Brazil’s borders. “I contacted ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency). Apex was very communicative and welcomed us with open arms, offering us a (training) program to break the ice about the foreign market,” she recalls.

The training she refers to is the Export Qualification Program (Peiex), an initiative through which national entrepreneurs seeking to enter foreign trade receive a personalized export plan.

The training was successful and the company is ready to take the next step in its activities. “After we did the consulting with Apex, I can say that Café Caiçara has potential and is already preparing budgets for the foreign market. We are no longer afraid of participating in this foreign sales”, he reports.

Although it is already 74 years old, Café Caiçara is just taking its first steps when it comes to exporting. Just like her grandfather, Renata has bold plans for the family business. “We are sales leaders in Jundiaí and the surrounding area. We sell more than national companies, and I think that my grandfather, seeing the level we are seeking together with partners like Apex, would be very happy and grateful that we are growing and trying to take our coffee not only to our region, but to the entire world”, says the agricultural engineer.

Support

ApexBrasil offers a series of programs that aim to facilitate the insertion of Brazilian companies — especially micro and small businesses — in the international market in their segments.

One of them is the Peiex. Present in all regions of the country, the program provides guidance to entrepreneurs who wish to export their products. Interested parties can contact the respective ApexBrasil operational centers in each state of the country and sign a term of adhesion to the program.

The program provides free support to companies. All the entrepreneur needs to do is be willing to dedicate time and invest in improving their business. The diagnosis of what the company needs to improve in order to access the foreign market takes approximately 38 hours. The entrepreneur receives an export plan with guidelines for internationalizing their brand.

Between 2021 and 2023, Peiex served 5,300 companies. Of these, 827 are already exporting and had a turnover of US$ 3.16 billion in the period.

For more information about companies that internationalize their sales and export incentive programs, visit: www.apexbrasil.com.br.