Business Meal

Similar as in Europe it is more common to have a business lunch than a business dinner. Brazilians attach great significance to socializing. Accordingly business lunches are important and you should reserve enough time, when being invited. Participating in a workshop it is not as common as in the USA, UK, Germany or Switzerland to have a sandwich lunch. Even though schedule is tight you would rather go for a real meal. When you are inviting make sure to invite your business contacts to a top restaurant. It helps to earn respect.

Punctuality

It is depending a bid on where you are in Brazil. In Sao Paulo people are mostly very business minded. So far I never had to wait when having a business meeting /business lunch. In general it depends a bid on the importance of the business lunch for your business contact and on your status. If importance and your status is high brazilian business people will be punctual. Concerning this topic it is also important to understand what is meant by certain sayings. “to indo” means basically “I am going/coming”. For a Brazilian that means he is thinking about leaving his office. It is easily possible, that half an hour later he is still there. What you want to hear is “to chegando” I am arriving. There you can expect him about 10 minutes later.

Table Manners

Table Manners are very important. Manners in Brazil are generally a bid more polished than in Central Europe. Where in Europe for certain meals it maybe ok to use your hands, Brazilians use rather fork and knife. There are many other small differences. For example salad leaves you should not cut with your knife. So the best is to observe your contacts and do it the same way.

Topics of Conversation

During the main course you only should make small talk. The perfect small talk is soccer. About soccer you can have a conversation with almost every Brazilian from doorman to top executive. Be aware though, that the European soccer league is not well known in Brazil. Cristiano Ronaldo is rather known as a good looking model, than a great soccer player. Its a good idea to build up know-how about the brazilian league. It could happen that your business contacts will ask you, which brazilian team you are supporting. Telling him that you have no clou about brazilian soccer doesn't really help your case. Avoid topics such as politics, economic problems, poverty, corruption etc. Although Brazilians like to criticize their politicians, you shouldn't. You should not talk about to personal topics either. About business subjects you only should talk at the end of your lunch. Do not push it. Rather plan for a second or third business lunch to go more into detail.

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