From street vendor to millionaire businessman: the trajectory of Kleber Silva, the 'king of brigadeiros'

In 2014, Kleber Adair Neves da Silva, then 31 years old, walked along Rua Augusta , in downtown São Paulo, offering brigadeiros (Brazilian chocolate fudge balls) to patrons of bars and restaurants. Ten years later, he opened his own confectionery shop: Doces de Ouro, which in 2024 reached a revenue of R$ 2.5 million and projects to reach R$ 3.5 million in 2025.

"I used to dance and shake my hips to sell brigadeiros. I did a whole marketing campaign. It captivated people and also made me happy," he told Pequenas Empresas & Grandes Negócios magazine. At the time, he divided his time between his job at the city hall and nighttime sales, with the support of his mother, sister, and a friend in the production.

Before long, the new business began to yield more than his fixed salary. Silva quit his job and threw himself into sales. In the morning, he sold cakes in jars; at night, he returned to the sidewalks of Augusta Street with his brigadeiros (Brazilian chocolate fudge balls). This intense pace lasted until 2020, when the pandemic emptied the streets and interrupted his in-person sales.

"In March, the pandemic hit. Restaurants started closing, and I lost the clientele that was always out on the streets," he says. After a month of uncertainty, he decided to bet on delivery. The strategy worked: "In fifteen days, I made an average of R$ 14,000. For me, that was a lot. I was used to earning that amount, but by spending more energy, not from my own home."

The success led to the opening of a takeaway store in Bela Vista in August 2020. But the location, according to him, didn't attract enough customers.

It was then, during a stroll, that Silva found the ideal spot: an unoccupied shop on Rua Augusta. "I saw a hot dog stand closing down and, luckily, the real estate agent was there and I started negotiating right away," he says. The new unit opened in July 2022.

Doces de Ouro is open until 4 am, taking advantage of the activity at the bars and nightclubs in the area. The menu includes everything from classic brigadeiros to brigadeiro-filled coxinha with strawberries (R$ 23), meringue cake with strawberries (R$ 35), and the Matilda cake (R$ 35), inspired by the movie.