Today we’d like to introduce you to Sergio Filho.
Hi Sergio, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Sérgio Souza Filho, I have a degree in Culinary Arts and I’m originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
I’ve had an exciting career in the food industry, working at major events in Brazil, including the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Some time ago, I was living in Boca Raton, Florida, working in a completely different field. When I moved to Orlando, I had to reinvent myself. I didn’t have any job lined up, and I even tried doing food deliveries, but it didn’t feel right. Deep down, I knew I wanted to start my own business.
I began thinking about everything I had done in gastronomy and knew I wanted to create a frozen product — something scalable, practical, and accessible to everyone. That’s how the idea of Queijoca was born — a light, healthy, and affordable snack made from tapioca and cheese.
I went to the market, bought the ingredients, and started testing. I had no idea if it would work. My mom was with me the entire time, supporting me through this challenging process. We spent over 8 hours perfecting the first recipe and made our very first batch of 100 Queijocas.
We took them to share with friends at our church group without saying anything about what they were or where they came from. We wanted to see people’s genuine reactions. And to our surprise, they were blown away — asking where they could buy more. That first test showed us we had something special.
At that point, the product didn’t even have a name, and the business didn’t exist yet — it was just an idea. I knew I couldn’t do this alone, so I invited my best friend, Lemuel, to join me in building this vision.
We started brainstorming names. At first, we thought about calling it “Queijinho,” but then we came up with “Queijoca” — a fun mix of the Portuguese words queijo (cheese) and tapioca. We instantly loved it.
We had no idea how to get licenses, packaging, register the company, or deal with the FDA. We were starting completely from scratch. And so we did.
Hi, I’m Lemuel — proud co-founder of Queijoca.
When Sérgio invited me to be part of this idea and launch it as a business, I said yes without hesitation. I truly believed we had something unique — a product with great potential that didn’t exist in the U.S. market.
I started by creating our Instagram, Facebook, email, and phone line, and took on the role of customer service. While Sérgio handled the deliveries, I responded to clients who found us through our paid ads and closed the sales.
We got off to a good start — people loved Queijoca and kept coming back. Our church friends also became regular customers. But our social media presence was still small, and we needed more visibility.
That’s when I had the idea to send out free samples to people so they could try Queijoca and post about it on their stories. Later, my fiancée encouraged me to reach out to local influencers in Orlando and invite them to try our product. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone would reply — our business and Instagram account were still tiny.
But to my surprise, someone responded! Sérgio made the delivery himself, and soon I was sending more messages and getting even more replies. This helped bring huge visibility to our brand and turned several influencers into loyal supporters — all without any paid sponsorships.
We realized we were building something truly special.
I then registered our company in a sales and shipping system, created our YouTube page, and organized photoshoots to post quality content on Instagram. But we knew that to grow further, we had to make everything official.
We searched long and hard for a certified commercial kitchen where we could legally produce and store our Queijocas. It wasn’t easy, but eventually we found one that met all the requirements, allowing us to begin the legal registration process.
However, we still had challenges. There were significant ongoing costs, and we still needed a machine to scale production, plus custom packaging.
Sérgio found a company that supplied the right machine, and I connected with a design studio specializing in food packaging. They began working on our new visual identity and logo so we could launch Queijoca properly in the market.
After a long journey, we finally secured all the necessary licenses and are now waiting for our new packaging to be completed — ready to officially relaunch Queijoca in stores.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of our biggest challenges from the start was the lack of financial resources. We needed funds to buy equipment, cover business expenses, and make the necessary investments. Sérgio wasn’t in a position to invest much, as he had to work part-time delivering food and driving for Uber just to support himself—on top of dedicating time to Queijoca.
Many sacrifices had to be made: selling his bicycle, using credit cards and going into debt, asking friends for help and, at times, even struggling to pay rent.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are the founders of Queijoca, a food brand born from our desire to build something with purpose and bring an authentic taste of Brazilian cuisine to the United States. I’m Sérgio Souza Filho, a culinary school graduate with experience in major events in Brazil, including the Rio 2016 Olympics. When I moved to Orlando, I decided to combine my passion for cooking with the goal of creating a product that was accessible, scalable, and full of identity and that’s how Queijoca was born.
I invited my best friend, Lemuel, who holds degrees in Logistics and International Business, to be part of this dream. He brought a strategic vision to the project, managing communications, social media, marketing, and relationships with customers and influencers. Together, we’ve worked on everything from the very first recipe tests to the development of the brand, packaging, and the entire legal structure of the business.
What makes us most proud is that we started from scratch, with limited resources and many challenges, but fueled by faith, creativity, and support from our community. What sets us apart is the originality of our product, made with tapioca and cheese delivering a unique combination of flavor, texture, and convenience all crafted with care and attention to detail.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
What’s surprising is that most people don’t realize we truly started from scratch literally. We had no initial investment, no infrastructure just an idea, a lot of faith, and determination. Sérgio had to sell his bicycle and work for Uber and food delivery services just to support himself while we developed the product. Lemuel handled all the communication and marketing, even though we had no team, no branding experience, and no advertising budget.
Another surprising detail is that the first time we introduced Queijoca, we didn’t tell anyone it was ours we simply wanted to observe people’s reactions. When we saw the excitement and heard people asking where they could buy it, we knew we were onto something special.
Also, many people don’t realize that the entire process was incredibly hands-on and homemade, from testing recipes in the kitchen with Sérgio’s mom to personally delivering orders and reaching out directly to local influencers all done by us, with a lot of creativity, hustle, and heart.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queijocafl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572457860266&ref=pl_edit_xav_ig_profile_page_web#
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Queijoca
- Other: https://wa.me/+14076646997
