Marcelo Braga, Co-Founder & Director, Frittos & Co., 2026 Small Supplier Partner of the Year

There's a trophy on the table between us when this conversation starts, and that's the right place to begin. Recorded live and in person on stage at the third annual Loblaw Supplier Summit — the day at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre that brought close to 2,500 suppliers and Loblaw leaders together around partnership, value, innovation and trust — this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw features Marcelo Braga, Co-Founder & Director of Frittos & Co., fresh off being named 2026 Small Supplier Partner of the Year.  Marcelo arrived in Canada from Brazil in 2019 and settled in London, Ontario. He met his eventual business partner, Wallace Franca, through the local Brazilian community — and discovered that Wallace's father-in-law, an obstetrician back in Brazil, had delivered Marcelo's first daughter. That coincidence turned two families into one, and eventually into a company.  The product is coxinha — the Brazilian chicken croquette that Marcelo calls the country's most popular snack — alongside cheese balls, churros filled with dulce de leche and chocolate, and a Canadian-facing line that includes pulled pork and pizza bites. The dough is the Brazilian part. The flavours are increasingly Canadian. What separates this story from most food startup stories is the sequencing. Marcelo and Wallace didn't begin at a farmers' market.  They built a compliant incubator facility first, sorted GS1 packaging and nutrition facts before anyone asked, and then went looking for customers. So when a Real Canadian Superstore manager in Windsor flagged the product and Loblaw's local food program came to visit, the answer wasn't "give us six months." It was yes. As Marcelo puts it: be ready for the opportunity before the opportunity arrives. He closes with advice for food entrepreneurs at any stage. Passion and consistency, because plenty of people will tell you the category is already crowded. The right team, because you can't scale alone. And relationships — he still drives to every new store that lists the brand, just to shake the manager's hand and say, I'm the father of this product. A warm, honest conversation about getting from a good idea to the national freezer aisle. **About Your Host, Michael LeBlanc** **Michael LeBlanc** is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, *Remarkable Retail* with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast *The Voice of Retail* and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, *The Food Professor* with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025 and 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, *Last Request BBQ*, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.