Becoming familiar with the language and culture of a new nation is challenging enough for immigrants. Add to that the challenge of starting a new food-related business during a pandemic and economic downturn, and you arrive at what the lives of the Pereira family members are currently.
60 year old Miriam, and 61 year old Geraldo Pereira, Sr., arrived in the Chippewa Valley last year from their native Brazil. They are taking English Language Learner classes through Chippewa Valley Technical College,
which is helping them learn the language and customs of America. Most of the rest of their time is taken up with Montebelo, their new business making “pao do queijo,” a Brazilian cheese bread now sold at nine area grocery stores and supermarkets.
Fortunately, they are not on their own in America. Their son, 30 year old Geraldo, Jr., a CVTC IT-Software Developer student who previously went through the ELL program, is helping them adapt, as does their daughter, 34 year old Tanara. She has been in America for about 15 years and operates her own business here.
“The initial idea and also the investment for Montebelo came from Tanara,” Geraldo explained. “My parents came with the bread-making process.”
The cheese bread is a traditional Brazilian food.
It is a gluten-free bread, with tapioca flour as the main ingredient. Montebelo’s bread is sold as small frozen formed pieces of the raw dough, which consumers bake at home. The resulting pieces have a crusty outside and a chewy inside. The cheese flavor is unmistakable and a cornerstone of the product.
“This kind of cheese bread is easy to make yourself at home,” Miriam said.
