Moacyr de Carvalho Dias Introduced Bagged Milk and Danone to Brazil

Moacyr de Carvalho Dias, known as Xixo, started his business career in Poços de Caldas, where Laticínios Poços de Caldas collected milk using two carts. His subsequent work in Brazil’s dairy industry included changes to both products and the way they were marketed.

One of his early initiatives was the sale of milk in bags. The format was new in Brazil at the time and became one of the measures associated with his work in the sector. Dias also pursued opportunities beyond the domestic market.

According to his nephew, Daniel Dias, the businessman travelled to France to meet Danone representatives. Although he did not speak the language fluently, he presented information and arguments about the Brazilian market. The meeting persuaded Danone executives to invest in Brazil.

A new format for requeijão

Dias also changed the packaging of requeijão. Before his initiative, the product was generally sold in blocks. His proposal to place it in glass containers introduced a different presentation for a familiar dairy food.

The glass-cup format became widely used and remains a recognised presence on supermarket shelves across Brazil. The change formed part of Dias’s broader approach to finding new ways to present and sell products already established in the dairy chain.

An aviary outside the dairy industry

Dias’s activities extended beyond food manufacturing. For much of his life, he maintained the Criadouro de Aves Poços de Caldas, a private aviary linked to his childhood interest in birds. The site eventually held more than 4,000 birds representing 325 species from different parts of the world.

In a statement to Canal Rural in 2017, Daniel Dias said that his uncle financed the aviary himself for decades. The project continued despite financial and bureaucratic difficulties. Moacyr de Carvalho Dias lived to the age of 96 in Poços de Caldas and died in 2017 from renal failure.