Dissatisfied with the job vacancies and salary proposals she found in Portugal, Eduarda Meireles, 29, from Minas Gerais, was about to leave the country when, in March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic forced her to change plans.
The young woman then decided to combine the recipes taught by her grandmothers with the experience of the recently completed course in management and pastry production to launch her own company: Matuta, specializing in sweets that refer to Brazilian traditions.
Sales, which started on Instagram, have now expanded to supply cafes and restaurants. The next step is to open a physical space.
“Having our own business does not mean that we will work less and earn more. On the contrary, sometimes we work triple and also close the month in a tight spot. Undertaking means working a lot, but with the difference that I do it for myself . It has been a very rewarding experience”, he describes.
Entrepreneurship has been one of the great bets of the Brazilian community in Portugal, which has an increasing presence of liberal professionals and more educated workers. In 2021, the number of Brazilians residing in the Iberian country grew for the fifth consecutive year and reached 209,072 people, the record in the historical series.
According to data from the ACM (High Commissioner for Migrations), a Portuguese government agency that provides assistance to migrants, about 75% of Brazilian entrepreneurship projects supported by the entity in 2020 were headed by women.
Starting your own business is usually one of the main alternatives for low wages in Portugal, where 25% of workers live on one of the lowest minimum wages in the European Union: 705 euros (approximately R$3,880).
For immigrants, job prospects can be even more grim. A report by the ILO (International Labor Organization) indicated that, in 2020, foreign workers had 29% lower incomes than Portuguese workers. A figure well above the average for developed countries (13%) and the EU itself (9%).
President of Casa do Brasil in Lisbon, an NGO that helps the Brazilian community in Portugal, Cyntia de Paula believes that one of the biggest challenges for immigrants is professional development and the recognition of qualifications in Portugal.
“We may even have work, but the narrative of jobs in precarious conditions is very recurrent in our lives, as Brazilian migrants. There is a difficulty for our community, especially those who arrived in recent years, to get qualified professional placement”, he says.
According to Cyntia, in many cases, the stereotype of the immigrant who can only work in less qualified positions still persists, although there are more and more migrants with high schooling and extensive professional experience.
“There are many different profiles of people within our community, we cannot speak of a single profile of Brazilian immigrants in Portugal”, he evaluates.
After more than a decade of experience in large companies in Brazil, Vanessa Asturiano decided to open Clique Mais, a digital marketing company. After studying the Portuguese market, the businesswoman identified a gap in the offer of paid traffic consultancy.
She reports that entrepreneurship has given her financial freedom and geographic flexibility, as she can work remotely while traveling.
“I got more flexibility to travel, which is something I love. With the pandemic, it wasn’t so much to do that, but I plan to go to Brazil in December and spend two months, to escape the winter here and stay with my family”, plan.
Vanessa says that she took such a liking to the subject that she became an active part of a group of women entrepreneurs in Portugal.
“Entrepreneurship also has its difficulties, it is much more unstable. In one month more clients enter, in others it is more difficult. But entrepreneurship was something that gave me a lot of freedom”, he adds.
Living in Portugal for four years, Carioca businesswoman Jackeline Marini says she was positively surprised by the ease of opening a company in the European country, even in the midst of confinement due to the pandemic.
“Portugal has an on-the-spot business start-up program, which I know works very well. But, as everything was closed in lockdown, I couldn’t use it. Fortunately, there was the option to do it with a lawyer, who was allowed to handle We left on time with our certification, it was very fast and unbureaucratic”, he says.
From a Portuguese family and with a strong connection to the country, Jackeline decided to combine her experience in the Brazilian gastronomic market with Portuguese culinary traditions. The result was the Sous Chef Experience, which offers a selection of sauces and seasonings from the premium segment.
“Portuguese people buy a lot because of tradition, at least in my perception. So, we made products that combine tradition with innovation. The result has been very positive”, he says.
With products such as lime caipirinha jelly and onion chutney, mustard and port wine, the brand will soon begin to be exported to other European countries.
“Me and my partner [Daniela Novaretti, também brasileira] we opened a business in another country in the middle of a pandemic. A lot of people called us crazy, but we always believed in the project, which is working very well. We are moving from almost artisanal production to a larger scale platform,” he says.
With the arrival of large funds from the European Union to encourage the economy of member states in the post-pandemic period, the expectation is that Portugal will continue to see entrepreneurship initiatives grow.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
