Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Nunes and Ederson are just a few of the Premier League stars who often visit this small family-run shop in Salford.
Since opening in 2016, Mais Brasil Market has attracted a fair few Brazilian and Portuguese football stars looking for home comforts.
Ederson, Matheus Nunes and the former Manchester City players Fernando and Fernandinho have all visited the tiny shop on Chapel Street. One of the shop’s owners Julia Batista, 25, pointed out that all three Man City players are “so nice and very talkative people”.
In fact, Matheus Nunes came in just yesterday (August 28) for his Acai, a sorbet made from a Brazilian type of berry.
Other Manchester United players such as Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot are also loyal customers. The former Man United midfielder Fred also visits the shop and Julia thinks he is “so friendly”.
“Most of the footballers that come are Brazilians or Portuguese as our products bring back memories from home,” said Julia.
“When they’re missing home they come to the shop and do their grocery shopping here. It gives them this feeling of being back where they came from.
“We work a lot on our customer service. So I think that sets us apart from any other Brazilian store in Manchester. Our customers become friends and inside the shop they feel like they’re at home.”
The shop likes to honour the football players who visit with a framed signed shirt that’s hung up on the walls.
Their most popular items include the Brazilian-style cheese bread Pao de Queijo, the soft drink Guarana and the special Brazilian meat Picanha. Julia said: “Picanha is a meat cut that we have for barbeque, Brazilians love their meat and it’s very good quality meat.”
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Since opening in 2016 the tiny store in Salford has managed to survive a pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis. Julia puts the shop’s survival down to their loyal customer base.
Julia added: “During the pandemic it was very hard because of everything that was going on but we were still allowed to have the shop open.
“It was very difficult because it was one customer at a time in the shop. But we got through it very well, we actually had more people coming in because they were staying at home cooking more food, especially Brazilians who like to cook their meals a lot. So it was able to succeed because of that.”
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