Three businesswomen from Paraná stand out in the food business

Female entrepreneurship has grown every year. Despite the gender inequalities present in various aspects of Brazilian society, women have shown themselves to be increasingly courageous and innovative when it comes to creating and managing their own businesses. Three businesswomen from Paraná are examples of the rise of women in the out-of-home food sector.

According to data from the GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) survey, women currently represent 24.8% of entrepreneurs in Brazil. Despite still being a smaller percentage than that of men (32.9%), the numbers have grown year after year. In 2019, for example, women entrepreneurs represented 23.5% of the total.

And to prove that it is possible to overcome statistics, we brought the stories of three businesswomen from Paraná who are references and highlights in the away-from-home food sector:

Fernanda Fontoura

The former lawyer from Curitiba, is the owner of the brand “Comidinhas da Diana” which started as an Instagram profile where Fernanda shared healthy eating tips, based on her experience introducing food to her daughter Diana, who is now 8 years old. With the popularity on social networks, Fernanda expanded her brand, launching a series of cookbooks and other products such as an app and a line of granola.

The Instagram profile currently has almost 800,000 followers and the portal brings together digital and physical books and all of the brand’s products. Fernanda believes that motherhood encourages women to look for other forms of work to be close to their children. “It’s yet another proof of female strength, of reinvention. It’s not easy, but it’s rewarding”, she adds.

Daiana Borges

Businesswoman and lawyer, Daiana Borges helps turn projects and ideas into successful ventures. Most recently, she was responsible for creating the first caramel apple vending machine and for designing Apple Caramel for the world.

To develop a machine capable of holding the product, Daiana made a cardboard prototype. “It was the way of making sure engineering would understand what was in my head,” he explains. “I got about 30 no’s until I found a company that would develop a vending machine for apples,” he says.

The business model was launched three months ago, at Shopping Curitiba, and already has interested investors. “If the idea is good and the product is good, you have to take a risk. Today my job is to help these small entrepreneurs in this beginning and to transform projects into undertakings”, completes Daiana, who is also a specialist in developing franchise projects and attracting of investments for industry and commerce. @applecaramelbr

Maria Fernanda Abagge

Passionate about gastronomy since childhood, Maria Fernanda Abagge started in entrepreneurship by helping to run her father’s restaurant. Today, at the age of 30, she has two establishments: an artisan pasta house and a café.

For her, working with gastronomy is a great satisfaction and also a great challenge, mainly due to the sector’s instability. “I love dealing with the public and meeting people, but it’s not easy to face ups and downs, you have to be resilient and persistent”, she says. @oggi. folder