Ivens Dias Branco

In 1953, when he was 19 years old, Ivens started working with his father Manuel, a Portuguese immigrant. In less than three decades, he turned Padaria Fortaleza (Fortaleza Bakery) into one of the largest industrial groups in Latin America in the cookies and pasta industry. He also owns hotels, a cement factory, a construction company, and a grain transportation port in Bahia. However, his most special feature is actually his character and the singular way he relates to people. Sergio Vilas-Boas conducted 80 interviews to compose this profile, shedding light on the causes and consequences of the positive unanimity of this discrete and methodical gentleman who, with dedication and perspicacity, immensely contributed to the socioeconomic progress of Brazil’s Northeast region.