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In Ribeirão Preto, in the interior of São Paulo, Eduardo Borelli left the construction industry, made his wife his partner, and turned a hobby of making gelato at home into the largest gelato chain in Brazil: Borelli now has 240 franchise stores and earns about R$ 500 million per year.
Anyone who tries a gelato at a Borelli store can hardly imagine that it all started as a weekend pastime. Eduardo Borelli was working in the construction industry in the interior of São Paulo when he decided to turn a kitchen hobby into a business. He left the construction field, made his wife his partner, and went to Italy to learn how to make real gelato. The result became the largest gelato chain in Brazil, with 240 stores and revenue around R$ 500 million per year.
The journey was told by Seu Dinheiro, which detailed how the brand went from a small shop in Ribeirão Preto to dominating the market. Founded in 2013, Borelli brought an Italian tradition to the São Paulo interior and grew to become a national reference in artisanal gelato. From pastime to empire, the story mixes the courage to start over and a knack for business.
From construction to gelato
Eduardo Borelli’s turning point is enough to make many entrepreneurs envious. Before dealing with ice cream, he had a career in construction and agribusiness, two strong sectors in the interior of São Paulo.
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But what was just a kitchen hobby, making gelato at home, started to look like a real opportunity. Instead of following the safe path, he bet on the unlikely.
He left the construction industry and went to Italy to deeply study cuisine and Italian gelato, to bring the right recipe to Brazil. It was the exchange of concrete for ice cream, the construction site for the kitchen.
The hobby that became a factory in Ribeirão Preto
In 2013, Eduardo Borelli decided to set up production in his hometown, Ribeirão Preto, and opened the first store alongside his wife, Gisele Borelli.
The initial idea was a hybrid store of pizza and ice cream, but he decided to focus entirely on gelato, and it was the right decision. A year later, in 2014, the second unit opened, also in Ribeirão Preto.
The couple ran the business with determination, learning to be entrepreneurs as they grew. From that small artisanal shop, an empire would emerge years later.
The Franchise Turning Point
The leap in size has a date and a model. The major turning point came in 2019, when Borelli adopted the franchise system to spread across the country.
By swapping the slow growth of store by store for the power of franchises, the brand accelerated for good. Instead of opening everything alone, the couple began to multiply the network through franchisees, taking Borelli gelato from city to city.
This was the secret to scaling. Without the franchise model, it would have been difficult for a gelato brand from the interior to have come so far so quickly.
240 Stores and R$ 500 Million per Year
Today’s numbers tell the size of the feat. Borelli has about 240 stores spread across more than 25 states, making it the largest gelato chain in Brazil.
In revenue, the network reached the level of R$ 500 million per year, a big result for a product that many see as a simple dessert. It took twelve years of building, from one store in 2013 to the hundreds of franchise units today.
The brand became a leader in a market it helped popularize. From a home hobby to half a billion reais, the numbers add up.
The Wife Partner and the Family Business
Behind the expansion is a partnership that started at home. Since the first store, Gisele Borelli has been a partner with her husband in the business, making Borelli a family-rooted company.
Turning the wife into a partner was not a detail: it was the foundation that supported the brand during the difficult early years. With growth, management also became professionalized, and since 2023 the company has a CEO leading the operation, Tony Miranda.
Even professionalized, Borelli maintains the DNA of a family business born in Ribeirão Preto. It’s the kind of story where home and business blend together.
Why the Gelato Was So Successful
Success was not just luck, it was product. Borelli bet on the so-called vero gelato, true Italian-style gelato, made artisanally with selected ingredients, according to Exame.
To manage the entire network, the brand invested in its own factory, ensuring quality standards in all franchises. Bringing a sophisticated and Italian product to the countryside, and then to the country, created a unique selling point that is hard to replicate.
The customer pays for the experience, not just for ice cream. And it was this combination of quality and expansion that made Brazil’s largest gelato chain take off.
What the Borelli story shows
The biggest lesson is about the courage to start over. Eduardo Borelli proved that it is possible to leave a stable career and turn a hobby into Brazil’s largest gelato chain, as long as you learn the craft and bet methodically.
Of course, it’s important to keep your feet on the ground. The milestone of R$ 500 million and 240 stores is the result of more than a decade of work and the franchise model, so it is not an overnight success, and the numbers of an expanding network change over time.
Even so, leaving the construction industry in Ribeirão Preto and reaching national leadership in gelato is the kind of turnaround that inspires any entrepreneur. From a kitchen hobby to a franchise empire, Borelli shows that a good idea, well executed, becomes a giant business, and that sometimes the best investment starts at home, with the family.
And you, would you leave a ready career to bet on a hobby you love? Tell us in the comments if you’ve tried Borelli’s gelato and what you thought of this story.
