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Ricardo Faria, the Egg King, transformed the Faria Farm in Lauro Müller into a multinational that operates in Brazil, Europe, and the United States. The purchase of American Hillandale Farms for US$ 1.1 billion created a global platform with estimated revenue of over US$ 2 billion and positioned the southern Brazilian among the largest egg producers in the world.
The businessman known in the market as Egg King has traveled a path that defies any business manual. Ricardo Castellar Faria founded Faria Farm in 2006, built the largest producer of commercial eggs, fertile eggs, and chicks in Brazil, and now runs an operation that spans three continents. The company based in Lauro Müller produces about 16 million eggs per day, employs 2,700 people across 34 units distributed in ten states, and exports to 17 countries. But it was the decision to buy Hillandale Farms, the largest egg producer in the United States, for US$ 1.1 billion that elevated Faria to another level of global competition.
The American acquisition was not an isolated move. In November 2024, Global Eggs, an international holding created by Faria based in Luxembourg, had already purchased the Hevo Group, one of the largest egg producers in Spain, for 120 million euros. With consolidated operations in Brazil, Europe, and the United States, the Egg King built a multinational platform in less than two years that rivals the largest players in the global animal protein sector.
From ice cream seller in Criciúma to Forbes billionaire
Ricardo Faria’s journey begins far from the world of eggs. Born in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, he moved to Criciúma, Santa Catarina, as a child after his father, a doctor, received a job offer in the region. At 8 years old, he sold ice cream on the beach during school vacations. At 15, he did an exchange program in California, where he was impressed by the American agricultural sector and decided to switch from medicine to agronomy. He graduated as an agronomist engineer from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
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Before becoming the Egg King, Faria founded Lavebras, an industrial laundry that operated more than 70 units in Brazil. In 2017, he sold the company to the French group Elis for R$ 1.3 billion. With the capital and experience accumulated, he directed his efforts to Faria Farm, which had already been operating since 2006 from Nova Mutum, Mato Grosso. In 2013, the company reached Lauro Müller after acquiring Avícola Catarinense, consolidating its headquarters in southern Santa Catarina.
How Faria Farm became the largest egg producer in Brazil
The growth of Granja Faria followed a logic of scale and vertical integration that few competitors have managed to replicate. While many producers treated eggs as a simple commodity, Faria invested in the integration of production, distribution, and innovation, transforming each stage of the chain into a competitive advantage. The company reached the mark of 16 million eggs per day and captured about 10% of the national market, with a presence in states like Goiás, Mato Grosso, Paraná, and São Paulo.
Exporting to 17 countries, including Germany, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia, demonstrated that the Brazilian operation had the capacity to compete internationally. Diversification was also part of the strategy: Faria founded Insolo, focused on agricultural management of grains and fibers, and Fertifar, for fertilizers, consolidating a robust business ecosystem under the holding RCF Capital. In 2024, the businessman entered Forbes’ billionaire list with an estimated net worth of R$ 17.45 billion, ranking 21st nationally.
The $1.1 billion move that brought the Egg King to the United States
According to information released by the NSC portal, the purchase of Hillandale Farms represented the largest transaction in Granja Faria’s history and the direct entry of the Egg King into the American market. The operation was structured by Global Eggs, an international holding that concentrates all of Faria’s assets outside Brazil, and involved the participation of banks such as BTG Pactual, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Itaú BBA, and Santander in structuring the financing.
Hillandale Farms is one of the largest egg producers in the United States, and its incorporation into Global Eggs created a platform with a combined revenue estimated at over $2 billion among operations in Brazil, Europe, and North America. The original plan was to maintain Brazilian production exporting to the U.S. while Hillandale served the local demand, but the 50% tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Brazilian products forced a readjustment: egg exports to the United States were suspended, and local production began to compensate for that volume.
What lies ahead for the Egg King’s empire
Global Eggs operates today as a de facto multinational, with a presence on three continents and ambitions to go public in the United States. Faria’s long-term strategy is to position the company as a global leader in the egg sector, a market that generates hundreds of billions of dollars a year and, unlike other animal proteins, shows consistent growth driven by demand in emerging countries and the search for accessible protein sources.
However, the challenges are proportional to the ambition. American tariffs on Brazilian imports have already forced Global Eggs to redirect volumes and accelerate the expansion of poultry farms in the United States and Europe. Competition with industry giants, currency volatility, and the sanitary requirements of each market demand management that goes far beyond the productive efficiency that made Granja Faria grow in Brazil. For the King of Eggs from Lauro Müller, the next step is to prove that a businessman from Santa Catarina who started selling popsicles can compete on equal footing with the largest food producers on the planet.
Did you know the story of the King of Eggs or is this the first time you hear about a Santa Catarina native who runs a multinational egg company on three continents? Share in the comments what you think about Ricardo Faria’s journey and whether you believe Brazil can become a global reference in this market.
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