Fabiano Soares Mendonca
Mohammed Noofel

Fabiano Soares Mendonca

What’s your name?
Fabiano Soares Mendonca

Which is your shop?
Brazuka Meat & Groceries. 413 North End Road.

What brought you here?
We looked around other areas, but they've got Brazilian butcher's already. We realised that business-wise, Fulham has lots of different kinds of communities plus a very big South American community. That’s perfect for us because we don't only try to sell to Brazilian or South American families, the shop is for everyone.

What is your first memory of the area?
I’ve known this area for a long, long time. My first job was back in 1998 on Holloway Road.. But Hippo pizza had a branch in Fulham and my boss sent me over to work one night. The next day I said to him, “I'd like to work here now. I don't want to go back to Angel”. Their headquarters was here as well, so I had contact with them all the time. He said “OK!”.

There’s a Brazilian shop at the other end of the Market…
When we opened, we found a shop had just opened up the road. That doesn't matter: Both our shops showcase the best Brazilian food.

Describe what you sell…
Our non-meat produce is almost all imported from Brazil and Portugal. All our meat comes from Ireland, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. We've got a very nice piece of meat from Ireland, which is a picanha, or sirloin in English. It's different because they come as a very big piece. In Brazil they come in smaller pieces.

Why do you sell the things that you sell?
Because of the community in the area. A lot of English people travel to Brazil - they're born there or they've got parents there from after the Second World War. English people know the cheese bread, the sweets and the biscuits.

Where where do you call home?
England is my home now. I live in Furzedown, between Streatham and Tooting.

Who is your favourite person in the area?
It's a difficult question. It’s a community, I like the way Fulham is so mixed.

What is your favourite shop, except your own one?
There’s a new coffee shop down the road they’re very nice. It's located just after the traffic lights.

What socials are you on?