Leonardo De Aguiar Of INTUEAT: 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand

The number one factor is branding. There are a million products that can replace yours. You need to think why consumers will be interested in your product and how it will stand out against your competitors.

As a part of our series called “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Leonardo De Aguiar.

Leonardo De Aguiar is a young, innovative Entrepreneur and Business Owner. He grew up with a family that is deeply rooted in business. They instilled the values of hard work, dedication and the desire to contribute to society positively. Leonardo is currently operating as the Founder & CEO of INTUEAT INCORPORATED. He has spent the last three years building a Food & Beverage brand in Denver, Colorado, and is looking to expand in additional markets in the near future. INTUEAT is an innovative digital marketplace connecting high-end private chefs and hospitality professionals to diners who want fine dining on-demand. The platform also offers local foodies a pop-up brick-and-mortar event space where they can experience delicious cuisines from the chefs of INTUEAT at the INTUEAT Kitchen. Leonardo leads a small team of highly skilled and talented individuals who are assisting him in the expansion of INTUEAT to the national stage, as well as successfully closing funding rounds to ensure the viability of the company. Leonardo was Brazilian-born and now resides in Denver. For more information about INTUEAT, INTUEAT Kitchen or the private chefs of INTUEAT visit, intueat.com.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I was born and raised in Brazil where I spent the early part of my childhood growing up on my father’s cattle farm. The bulk of my childhood was spent with no access to TV or technology and was dedicated to hard work on the farm. My mom comes from a very industrious family who are from Guatemala. Her Family started a small restaurant that they ended up franchising to an international level. From there they were able to build and diversify the company all the way from their noble resources to franchises and different charities.

At a young age, my parents integrated us into the family business by teaching us their business values. Their end goal was to eventually have all of us develop professionally to the point where we could join the corporation in a meaningful way. From Brazil, we moved to the U.S. in 1999, from there I started connecting with my mom’s side of the family even more. I did a couple internships which was a grooming process that they had us run through where they put us in every single seat of the organization, allowing us to see all the various aspects of the company. So, one day we would be working with one of the local chefs making a pizza and the next day taking out the trash with the HQ Manager. It went all the way up to administration and how to make business decisions. My family really taught me what dedication and hard work was and instilled in me to never give up. I wanted to fill the shoes that my uncles created and pave my own path to that level of success. I always reflect on what they would do if they were in my shoes, and it has brought me to where I am today.

Can you share with us the story of the “ah ha” moment that led to the creation of the food or beverage brand you are leading?

There were three “ah ha” moments that led to the creation of INTUEAT. The first moment came from what I like to call my “previous self.” A few years ago, I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and during this time I was looking for recipes to help with my blood sugar, but each recipe I came across was not medically accurate for individuals with my health condition. So, this led me to work with a friend who was a chef in Miami on creating medically centered meal preps. Later, we were spit balling ideas on an app partnering with Starbucks on delivering orders to wherever a person was at in a mall. Kind of like Uber Eats, however, these ideas did not come to fortition. Organically this conversation sparked ideas focusing more on chefs, which led to the creation of the Chef Connect App.

I initially launched Chef Connect in November of 2019 in Denver, CO, a few months before the initial pandemic shutdown. At the time, I had little desire to expand beyond a small-scale catering company with a fancy Mobile Booking App. We saw initial success within the first few weeks, quickly booking in-home dinners for Denver A-Listers and Professional Athletes. From January to March 2020, my team and I had a lot of fun meeting new clients as they welcomed us into their homes and enjoyed the experience we brought to the table.

When the pandemic hit, we were forced quickly to pivot our business strategy to become more accessible while also helping furloughed chefs who had lost their jobs due to the shutdown. This led to the new streamlined booking platform, INTUEAT, allowing the public to continue to enjoy a restaurant-quality experience by some of Denver’s notable and emerging chefs in the comfort of their own homes.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake my team and I made when we first started off was accidentally packing up the client’s saucepan and stockpot when we were cleaning up after an event. Her pots and pans were in the sink when we first arrived and instead of quickly placing them in her dishwasher, we left them in the sink. The pan was an absolute mystery to us for quite some time as we called the client and she assured us nothing was missing, and she had checked everything — it turned out to be a lot of running around and headache for a small saucepan and stockpot!

What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a food or beverage line? What can be done to avoid those errors?

The most common mistake is the “field of dreams” or “if you build it, they will come” mindset. This is a starter mistake that most individuals endure, and I even experienced with my business. The idea of, I will create a brand or business and people will funnel in left and right because it is a great concept won’t realistically work. Ultimately, when it comes down to starting a Food and Beverage brand, no matter what avenue you are looking at, whether it is restaurants or delivery services, it is highly saturated because of the market and industry has been around for so long. You are going to build something in a market that several other entrepreneurs are wanting to create. Avoid that mistake by making sure you have a very thought-out customer success journey and taking the right steps in that journey because consumers won’t come straight to your door regardless of how excellent your idea may be.

Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to produce. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

Ultimately, research, research, research. Don’t get caught up in making things perfect, you have to have iteration out there. A quote that I stuck to during my experience is from the entrepreneurial spirit “an entrepreneur is someone who will jump off a cliff and assemble an airplane on the way down.” This couldn’t be more accurate because what it takes to get from concept to execution, is a leap of faith. I recommend getting your concept in order, breaking it down to your most minimally viable product and locking the process in and building it from there.

Many people have good ideas all the time. But some people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How would you encourage someone to overcome this hurdle?

It is not that easy. There are a lot of critical factors. Not everyone has the luxury or resources to go from their concept to the execution phase. It comes with a lot of sleepless nights and questioning how am I going to pay rent this month. When someone comes to me personally, I tell them it really comes down to if you are able to make this sacrifice at this point of time. Some people struggle with bringing their idea to life. It is important to ask yourself “will you be able to sustain it?” and “can you and do you want to do this?” It all goes back to the entrepreneurial spirit. Can you jump off this cliff and build your wings on your way down? If you crash and burn at the bottom, at least you tried.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

Going off my experience, I really benefitted from a consultant. My business partner was a restaurant consultant and truly guided me down the path to success. They are a million consultants out there who can put together an entrepreneur’s branding or a pitch deck, but it is important for that individual to hire consultants to help develop the brand further and bring that vision to life. However, it is important to be cautious and you must protect yourself and the recipe of your business in the initial stages. Yes, people can strike out on their own, but I would recommend doing 80% of the leg work and having your consultant do the 20% to really knock it out of the park.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

This is the flavor of the year. Ultimately, you are never going to be able to take a business plan into venture capital funding and successfully lock in funds from concept to sales. It does not happen like that. One leads to the other. You have to bootstrap to get to venture capital. It is the biggest deciding factor that comes into play. What is the exit strategy and how does that play into venture capital vs bootstrapping? The world is large enough for both, but personally I am striving at a concept that does capitalize venture capital. It comes down to the first cash you raise is the most expensive cash. You have to bootstrap long enough for an angel investor. Bootstrapping does have limitations and you will have to go into venture capital funds. Exit strategy is everything.

Can you share thoughts from your experience about how to file a patent, how to source good raw ingredients, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer or distributor?

A question I asked myself when beginning this process is, “is it really worth it to file a patent?” If it is, hire a good lawyer, it is easier to put the trademark logo on things and will save a lot of money if you go this route, but that also comes with its setbacks. When it comes to the raw ingredients, you have to know where and who your product is coming from. Owners will have to put in the time to fly out and meet the farmer and look at the land and taste the ingredient from the source. That is how you truly excel. When you are sourcing a good manufacture, it can be really challenging. Your manufacture has to meet your expectations. You will also have to find one that supports what you’re looking for. Another important factor is the retailer and distributor. You need to ask yourself if they will have your best interest in mind. Regardless of food product, you need to present a bonify case of why your product will sell off of their shelfs. There’s a lot of trial and error, but once you have done the research, finding a retailer will fall into place.

Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

The 5 things you need to create a successful Food and Beverage brand are branding, the company’s story, resilience, exposure and quality assurance.

The number one factor is branding. There are a million products that can replace yours. You need to think why consumers will be interested in your product and how it will stand out against your competitors.

The second factor is the company’s story. They need to know who is behind the product and the storyline. The story is why people will buy into your product or service. People need a social component.

The third factor is resilience. You are going to hear a million no’s before a yes. You’re going to be told no and that your product isn’t going to work. Resilience is so important outside of the brand itself. You have to be able to bounce back regardless of what curveballs are thrown your way. It is all about your character and your strength.

Another important factor is exposure and experience. If you do not have these things, you have to be able to learn and adapt quickly. The Food and Beverage industry is heavily interacted. Whether you are a server or trying to get your product into bars, it requires a lot of human interaction. You have to know what is going on to successfully run a brand within the industry from top to bottom.

Finally, the last component is quality assurance. It is important to know the ins and outs of your business. The quality and level of confidence someone needs to have is critical. From the people you interact with to the ingredients you source, having that confidence and assurance will make your company thrive.

Can you share your ideas about how to create a product that people really love and are ‘crazy about’?

Consumers are latching onto storylines and what makes your business unique. Having a story that consumers can relate to, and that social component will have your business stand out against others.

Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I like to think that myself, INTUEAT and the concept we built is all based on the selfless intent to create an opportunity for chefs on a global scale. I am constantly asking myself, “what are we doing?” and “how are we using our brand power and finances?” We are investing into chefs to empower and give them a better quality of life. We want the diners to see all the effort that these chefs have put into every meal they execute. Chefs make the world go round with their food and it is so important to make sure they feel appreciated. We are in this for the people and making a better workplace for them to show their impressive talents.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Within the Food and Beverage industry, if I can inspire one movement as a CEO, that would be the inspiration, collaboration and community within our industry. From hearing stories from chefs, there was a level of contiguity, that was making a competitive environment. There is very little comradery among chefs, and I hope to inspire this among the industry. My goal is to bring the sense of community and team work back to the Food and Beverage industry.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.