NSU Horizons Spring 2017

46 NSU HORIZONS S ergio Butuem, an M.B.A. student at the NSU H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, became a businessman when he was barely out of boyhood. In 1987, as a teenage rock musician in Brazil, he helped fellow band member Alexandre Costa raise money for new instruments by selling chocolate Easter eggs. Costa advertised the candy eggs and received orders for 2,000 units. One problem: Costa’s plan to fill the requests through a second party fell through—he had no product. In two days he borrowed $500 for supplies, whipped up the candy by hand, and made $500 in profit. “At that moment Alexandre decided to become the Brazilian Willie Wonka—and he invited me to join in,” Butuem said. While Costa tossed around seemingly impossible ideas, Butuem helped make his dreams real by sharing the business acumen he gleaned from growing up in his family’s car parts manufacturing company. While Costa pioneered his vision, Butuem studied mechanical engineer- ing in college using what he learned to repurpose old machinery and design new tools for chocolate making. After earning his first college degree in 1992, Butuem became a partner in the business they called Cacau Show. The niche company now boasts more than 2,000 specialty chocolate stores throughout Brazil. “We aspired to make good chocolate affordable to the middle class, but we packaged it like a high-end product. We had everything we needed to produce it right there in Brazil—milk, cocoa, sugar, and labor,” Butuem said. For 23 years, Butuem balanced Costa’s boundless creativity with disciplined business sense. While the company grew, Butuem earned more academic degrees and launched new businesses. He opened engineering and steel production companies while studying law at Universidade Paulista in Brazil. Butuem passed the Brazilian bar in 2001, the same year that Cacau Show started to produce its own chocolate recipe using better ingredients for better taste. The Sweet Smell of Success BY EILEEN SOLER STUDENT PROFILE I Sergio Butuem, right, chose NSU because the Huizenga Business College is composed of professors with real- world success as entrepreneurs, such as Miguel Orta, left, who teaches law and international sales.