A Dominican family's Latin food business success Dominican family is a main ingredient in successful Latin food businesses
When Luis Reyes opened Amigo's Deli & Groceries in 1991, shortly after
arriving in the United States from the Dominican Republic, he offered two things that build business anywhere in the world: good service and good prices.
Reyes especially reached out to the growing Brazilian population, he said.
"I wanted to give the Brazilian community a place where they could find Brazilian products for less than everywhere else," Reyes said. For instance, he was able to sell Café Pilão at a less expensive price than in other stores in Danbury.
"Because I was selling cheaper Brazilian products, more Brazilians came to my place, and I made more Brazilian friends," Reyes said.
As the deli grew, the Reyes family started helping out in the store. And now they also help run the newest addition to Reyes' growing business, Minas Carne, which he bought in September.
Richard, 23, graduated with a business degree and helps run that side of the operations. Juan, 25, is a trained chef and works with his mother Generosa to develop menus for the deli and Minas Carne. Javier, 16, also works in the kitchen.
"We kept the food the same but also incorporated what we have used at Amigos, which is household ingredients," Richard said. "At Amigo's, my mother, who was the chef there for a long time, used ingredients that she would use at home and we wanted to do the same here."
And, he added, his father is "the face of the business and basically in charge of hospitality." In other words, he makes sure that customers are satisfied.
Minas Carne clearly reflects the many contributions of Reyes' children. Richard, who graduated from New York University in Economics and Sociology, said that Minas, for him, "is like a home."
"Like I said my dad is hospitality, but he also manages the store like I do; I'm a business administrator. My brother
Juan graduated
from Johnston Wells in Culinary Arts, so he and my mother made the menu in Amigos. At Minas, we kept the Brazilian food the same as before and now my brother Javier is working in the kitchen."
"It's good to know that I can call up any one of my brothers and ask them for help in either one of the stores," Richard said. "It's good to know that I can depend on them."
In the future, Richard said, he hopes to develop partnerships with other local businesses and organizations that might need food service.
"In the next six months we want to remodel, especially making the dining area more spacious for our customers so that they can sit and relax. And we hope to grow our clientele not only within the Hispanic and Brazilian community, but also within the [U.S.] American community."
Minas Carne offers authentic Brazilian food, complete with a cold salad bar, hot buffet and churrasco or meat made from their brick fire pit. Minas Carne is located at 36 Osborne Street in Danbury.
Both the Amigos Deli & Groceries as well as Minas Carne will be participating in the Taste of Greater Danbury 2009. The event will be taking place Saturday and Sunday, September 12 and 13 in Citycenter Danbury on the green.
