Food For Thought

https://headliner.ai/food-for-thought-mp3

Uyi Agbontaen

Hey, guys. In today's episode, I speak to Rayder Nogueira Machado, the founder of superfood company AmaVida. We talk about life in Brazil, the early days of COVID, superfood acai, Berry and ethical consumption by the sun. Okay. So, Hayda, thank you for coming on the podcast.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Thank you for inviting.

Uyi Agbontaen

How are you doing?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

I'm very good. Thank you. Enjoying the sun, enjoying the weather. So be happy.

Uyi Agbontaen

We've been trying to organize this for a long time.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes.

Uyi Agbontaen

A very long time. The idea was to start last year, and then the pandemic hit.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Tell me about it, right? Yeah.

Uyi Agbontaen

I remember a particular story. I remember when I was speaking to you. You had traveled somewhere. I think it was Italy.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. Just came back from me too.

Uyi Agbontaen

Just came back and you told me that you think you have COVID. And you said something that was an indicator of covet. But it wasn't known at the time because you said that you couldn't smell or taste. Right. And I remember when you said that it wasn't in the news. That wasn't one of the things that you need to look out for, right? It was a temperature. It was a continuous cough, but it wasn't loss of smell and taste.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yeah.

Uyi Agbontaen

Yeah. So how was that? How did that come about?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. So very interesting. We were in Italy. My girlfriend is from Venice. So we are just in that weekend, things start happening. Italy. So basically, the first case start coming.

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Death toll in Italy is now higher than anywhere else in the world, including China. Another 427 people have died in the past 24 hours alone, bringing the death toll to more than 3400. Mark Loan is in Rome for us now.

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Mark, Sophie, it feels like a hole that Italy just can't plug the daily loss of hundreds of lives. Coronavirus fatalities in this country of 60 million people, now higher than in China. With a population of one and a half billion, it's brought one of the world's best healthcare systems to its knees.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

I actually went to the Carnival. They have a Carnival in there every year. So I went there and I was the only one going. So that weekend, everyone was talking about that already. And then I went to the Carnival. And then we started getting worried as well. And then we came back to London and the way back, obviously, we didn't have any type of people not prepared yet because it was the first weekend, basically. So remember now we have this lad next to us and she was sneezing in the shoes on the plane. Yes. With intensive cough. And then we were like, oh, my God. Maybe she has.

Uyi Agbontaen

Right.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

And then we're like, what can we do? We can do much. So arriving in London since before they had like, Where am I? Yes. So arriving in London two days after we thought that perhaps because I went to the Carnival, I would have something but in the house of my girlfriend, no one had anything. So we said was not in the Carnival because my girlfriend, by that time the third day she starts feeling well, really. And then we say, okay, so it's definitely not my fault. It's not the fault of us being out in Italy itself, but perhaps in the way back. And if that was the case because my girlfriend got the positive test after five days they were here. She had quite intensive two days of cold and fever and obviously three or four days after I had some symptoms as well as I said, which was unknown. But I started here by then. Some people say that they're losing smell and taste. And I was like, it definitely is. So I didn't do the exercise.

Uyi Agbontaen

When did you realize that you were losing your taste?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Actually, two days after felt unwell. So I started feeling a bit funny for me. My experience was quite light compared to my girlfriend. She had fever and she has body pain and everything. I just did have, like, an unwell feeling of not being fine, not being all right. One of those codes starting getting to you and then lost this mail and the sense of taste and then definitely something wrong. And because she did have the positive test. So I said, yes, that's it.

Uyi Agbontaen

You were one of the first people that I knew directly who caught Covey.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes.

Uyi Agbontaen

Your situation stood out because of the smell and the taste. And then, like, maybe, I don't know, six weeks later in the news, they said, look out for this sign if you can't smell, if you can't taste. That's one of the indicators that you could have coded, which is crazy.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Right. And I think it took at least three to four months for them to actually really say, okay, those symptoms are in the UK for sure.

Uyi Agbontaen

The reaction was very slow in Europe. It was slow, right. With Hindsight. Looking back, we could have done a lot better, so much. Okay. So I mean, you're from Brazil, right? Why did you decide to come to England of all the countries you could go to? Why a cold, Gray country.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

I have a funny, interesting story from a very young age. Brazil has very interesting things going on there in the wellness and mystic spiritual world. Right. So back then, there was this guy, Dr. Fritz. He's a famous, apparently doctor that comes down into a person. And he does operations on the psychic operations.

Uyi Agbontaen

Yes.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

All those types of things, which seems crazy.

Uyi Agbontaen

A lot of people believe it indeed. Yeah.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

I've seen those guys doing things in my eyes that was just incredible cutting people open with no unnecessarily, everything like that. At this young age, everyone can look at me and just cut him doing things and curing people. My grandmother went to do one of those things. Right. And the guy just stick a knife on her back and took out things. And I was Jesus Christ. And I was looking at it and she didn't say anything nor an SDC. And I'm looking at my mum looking at everyone's watching it this week. Six, seven years. This guy just stopped operation, looked at my face and goes, like, you, young boy, you travel the world and you become a doctor one day. So definitely he got right. I bought a doctor, I don't know. But still time, right?

Uyi Agbontaen

Still time.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

You never know the Internet.

Uyi Agbontaen

You can just get a certificate to say your adult service, right?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

The military service. It's mandatory for anyone. It's still mandatory.

Uyi Agbontaen

How many years?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

One year, yes. One year. So I write those times and I say, okay, let's just go for it. And then I see what happened. It's supposed to be just one year, but did well prepare myself before being an athlete before. So I really felt myself in a nice environment and did well. And then they choose a certain number of people every year to stay for temporary work, which is nine years small special group that does work. We are in the state of Matteo du Su. So we're just in border Paraguay. So those groups, they do work in the borders, sometimes in streets, doing some small jobs, helping locals with floods, doing a bit more than just that year of preparation of normal salt, which was very exciting. Exciting year for me. After three years of doing that, I decided to move to London to travel and know more about the world.

Uyi Agbontaen

So you came to London, and then actually, you set up a company?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes, indeed. So being a GG two, not at late. But I was doing that in my database, as I bear. It's very popular between the community. So that's interesting aspect. So I started researching. There are no matches in the UK. So we starting there almost seven years doing that, which it's been a hell of a journey so far.

Uyi Agbontaen

I remember when you for many years now, every few months I say, How's the business again? And you say, Man, sometimes really good. Sometimes it's been tough. It's been a really long journey. But you've grown it from nothing into something you've now got not just one product. You have quite a few products, right?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Well, yes. I think it's a success with a funny word. Yeah. I can say that I'm a successful person today to a point that where I started. So basically not having experience in business, not being from this place to what I have right now. So very successful in that point of creating something, creating a brand. So we supply hundreds of cafes at the point. Right. The best cafes in London, for example. That's a successful story. Right. We are in Planet organic nature and households name the wellness industry, which is great. And then now with Covet, we were hit really bad. And then we have to Swift completely to a direct consumer. Right. Right. And then just today, it's been fairly tough. But then you have every day those people today, this girl with a million followers just post something from us. Right. Which is crazy because he has a million following UK and it's going to bring a lot of attention to us. It brings more people like her to us. So all those stories, all those things are success. By the same time, it's been very tough. It's been very demand. We've got so much to do. It still, we've got so much to work. There is lack of skills in points and needing a person. But I think I always see the importance of start and keep going. Right. And things will happen. That's the mentality that I have in it.

Uyi Agbontaen

So you've grown something from nothing.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes.

Uyi Agbontaen

To the point where you can be proud of. It's not been easy.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Not at all.

Uyi Agbontaen

It's still not easy.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

No.

Uyi Agbontaen

You have more to achieve.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes.

Uyi Agbontaen

But you're on the path indeed. And you've stuck to the path.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes.

Uyi Agbontaen

That's the success.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yeah.

Uyi Agbontaen

A lot of people give up.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. When things are hard, people give up. I think that's the easiest turn. Right. That's how we've been told to deal with stress. Right.

Uyi Agbontaen

You started off with other products. Now Sai blew up. I remember maybe seven years ago, like, suddenly SA was everywhere before. It was only something that Brazilians knew. In fact, you ask people today and they call it a Cai.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yeah.

Uyi Agbontaen

Right.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes.

Uyi Agbontaen

What do you think when you hear someone say.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Akai, say, we start doing food markets. So we did a few food markets in London, Malta, B Street market, greenish market and foot and sports events. And we did all the sort of events trying. And that was very interesting times because we are every day with people trying the product in front of you. So 90% of people believe this is incredible. Right. And as you come, yeah, they are Kyberi, right. To appoint them after whole day. Listen to those people saying, Kaiburi, so instead of me to be the Brazilian, like someone said, he's very enthusiastic. He looks like a jungle boy. And then I was like, Hello, this is Kyberi. And because I was like, forget about the hospitality thing. Let's go tell how people actually know. Right. So I was like, and it would happen that some people would say like, It's not ASAI. Actually, I was like, okay, never mind. Yeah. It's an amazing product. Just growing and growing. It's been like a skyrocketing product year by year, starting with Brazil. Brazil. If you start becoming popular in Brazil, there are places in Brazil. They still don't know what it is like. My tower, which is the of Brazil. I just had the Acai place, actually two years ago.

Uyi Agbontaen

Wow.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Right.

Uyi Agbontaen

Brazil has one of the highest rates of COVID in the world.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

What do you think the view is now incredibly, the whole thing in there starts with if the leaders of the country, they have a point of view, right. Which is our current President, Bolsonaro. He has his strong views on many topics that I think it's quite a change for what people have been embraced and fight. And to get to that point that we have democracy. And he comes and he constantly has been saying that the COVID is just a joke. It's just a small flow. It doesn't hurt. So those affirmations in the TV, in the radio, it really builds up a strong point of view to the population. So his followers right. I'm definitely going to say that he's right. The President is right. I'm going to go for that. And then I think because of that, it's definitely a lot of people are taking coffee as a joke to the point of this day. And even the President, he hasn't spent much money in developing any type of program with COVID. I think just the last month, after one year that he kind of developed a new program and put some money to buy vaccines. So it took him one year and a lot of pressure from all sides from population to actually do something. But it's not something that I personally believe, such as this. So he's still going around and having groups of people meeting up, provoking all this aggroome of people and shaking hands. And I think there is a lot of people they still not believing that a lot of people are still really taking that as a joke. And just looking back, like talking to my parents back in Brazil, and then I lost friends, school friends. Really, those people that you grew up going to school, same age in case of a girl she lost, she just lost her life with a baby five Mangun, which is horrible. And people in there and not a small town. There is those people they still not believing, you know, it's great. Some people know that we use masks. It's bullshit. And that it's a very complicated thing because I think until it happens to you, you don't really believe until we hit someone very close to me, someone that I know. Okay. This guy is not joking like you.

Uyi Agbontaen

I know people who died. And I think if you live in a city like London, it's such a big city. So people are dying. People are dying in London, in England, in the UK. But it's such a big city. So there are people who don't know anyone directly who died. I know people who I literally saw two years ago and last year he died. But I think most people haven't had that experience. And so for them, it's like one there are people who are extreme and Cobb is not real. I think there's not many of those people anymore, but, yeah, it's just made up, right. I think people accept it's real. But then there's the people who are like, it's real. But it's not serious. And it's like, it is serious very much. It is serious. And, you know, people who have been affected directly. And I know people who literally I know people have died.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

You know what I mean?

Uyi Agbontaen

And I know people also whose parents died. I literally spoke to people and they were like, yeah, my dad died died from COBET. My mom died. She died from COBET. And I literally know those people. So I think you're right. Until people experience it, it's like seeing is believing because people don't see it. They don't believe it, which is weird.

Uyi Agbontaen

Yeah.

Uyi Agbontaen

And it's kind of like for me, it's like the vaccine situation, right. So you have people who are for vaccines, pro vaccine. You have people who are anti vaccine. For me, I'm a pro vaccine person. And my theory is the people who are anti vaccine. It's because they don't see people who suffer from the ailments that the vaccine is for. So think about our grandparents, right. Our grandparents and our great grandparents. They saw children who were affected by polio. They saw children who died from meningitis. They had siblings who died. Their great grandparents had, like, twelve brothers and two sisters or whatever it is. And five died. Why they died from these illnesses. And then the vaccine program came and people started to be inoculated. And then the death rate dropped. The mortality rate dropped for children. And now it's rare to see someone die from rubella or meningitis, right. Or polio. So people are like, it's not real vaccines because you've never seen anybody India. It's got to the stage now where people don't believe things because they don't see it.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. It's like taking for granted the safe net that we are now, right. Which it was a lot of work to get to that point. And sadly, as you said now, because I haven't seen because I haven't actually suffered that it doesn't affect me until we actually does. Yes. And I think we are in a time where we have a lot of controversy going on around. There is tribes building up new ways.

Uyi Agbontaen

Right.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

And that's another way to people come out and say, okay, I'm following those type of people. I'm an anti vaccine.

Uyi Agbontaen

It's definitely very tribal, right. Like you're in this team or you're in that team. And it's almost like the teams can't mix.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes.

Uyi Agbontaen

You have to stay on that side. And no matter what I say or no matter what you do, we're not going to change things. It's a strange one indeed.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

It's the black and white mentality, right. Which I think it's completely wrong in a way, because you're not flexible enough to change and to learn and to try to understand someone else's point. Right. Because it's that thing that I grew up in, a system that brought me to have this mentality. And that's what I'm going to have. And I don't want to change it. I don't want to change. I don't want to hear about. And I think that's the wrong thing going on right now.

Uyi Agbontaen

I agree. I think it's also weird in the sense that we live in an age where we have more information than anyone has ever had before at your fingertips, right?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yeah.

Uyi Agbontaen

But people want to see things that they want to see. People only want to see what they want to see.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yeah.

Uyi Agbontaen

And if you don't believe in Corona or you don't believe it's so serious, you look for all the things that support to your views that reinforce your belief this isn't real.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. You know what I mean.

Uyi Agbontaen

And people who do believe in it because I believe Crohn's real. I believe it's serious. Only on the surface, I listen to people who are like, oh, but it could be this. It could be that. But I don't really pay much attention because I'm like, Man, I just follow what the experts are saying. If the experts say this is what I need to do or this is what is happening. I trust the expert because I'm not an expert, whereas I think everybody thinks now, but they're an expert.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Again. Yes. Too much information. People are very selfish in a way. I want to believe in what I think it's right. Instead of listening right to people. And as I said, listen to expert, it's the way to go because someone has built such experience on that term. And then from there, you can say, let's listen to one to two, three, four or five experts and build my own mind. But it's definitely I'm learning things from Facebook and from Instagram and from YouTube.

Uyi Agbontaen

And that's good enough that's the University right now. I just need to look at Facebook, and that's where I get my information on that. It's a strange world.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

So saying that Brazil is in a very complicated situation because the leaders are not doing much to provide a safe mentality to people believe and do things to avoid. Right. And again, culture wise as well. Brazilians love the Kanye loves the part to be together the mixture of those things. There is a lot of those people just the young just say, forget about let's just enjoy life and even knowing someone that's very close to you, which is just my case, right. You said about London. I just know everyone that knows someone that has been affected. But strangely speaking, even those people that know, like a small town such as mine, 20,000 inhabitants. Everyone knows everyone, right? Everyone knows when something happened in there. And even though people still don't care because you're still going to find SKUs, it's not covered. It's been something else. Maybe that person was showing health. Maybe there is always maybe because I want to have my point of view, right. I want to keep doing what I'm doing. I don't want to stop doing what I like to do, because again, people are very selfish in their way. Yeah.

Uyi Agbontaen

And I think you tell me if I'm wrong. Brazil, at the moment, for the past 7810 years, it's been a very divided politically country, right? It's quite polarized. You have the left and you have the right. And Bolsonaro is on the right after having the left being in power for quite a while. So at the moment, the whole world is going through this pandemic. Brazil's been hit by this massive pandemic. But politically, the country is quite split. So, Bolsonaro, some people hate him and some people worship him in Brazil, right. He's like the Brazilian Donald Trump. Some people love Donald Trump. So no matter what the person said, well, I believe him because he's my leader. And there are people who are like, no, everything is wrong and stuff. So how do you feel when you go back to Brazil, considering you live here now, you live in London. How long have you been living in England?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

16 years already.

Uyi Agbontaen

So a long time. How does it all feel when you go back and you enter that kind of world environment?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Well, even from here, you can read through that through social media, through friends, from family. Right. Talk to your father, my father, he's an old generation. So ex military in Bolsonaro says everything that someone like my father do like to hear. We're going to finish. We're going to end the whole crime, we're going to kill all the budgets and the drug dealers and we're going to do this. We're going to do that. Trump mentality, as you said. So there is a lot of tension between that, because we all know that's not the way to go, right. Few things. Bosnia, who supports Bosniar, Brazil. It's divided all in class. We know that the majority of people in the are suffering with not having the basic right. The poverty. There is massive. We've got 1015 percent, 20% of people that actually have a good life, middle class life, let's say. And those people, it's proposed matter, obviously, because they want to have things that we have in Europe, right. And then the left side, the guy Lula. Now there was someone that had found very interesting because I grew up here. My father said that Lula was a terrorist and not knowing the history of you kind of believing in a way right on the left side. But the more you know, the more you start to understand. So the Lula and his part faults against the dictatorship. Right. What was the military takeover in Brazil? And they suffer horrible things those people know because they really find to get the power of bureaucracy back to Brazil and knowing that history starts understanding. Whoa. That's completely different from what I learned. Yes. And then when he went, when he got the chance after trying so many years to be in power and he did so much to Brazil, and when I see people poor in Brazil crying because of Lula, that means something to me because it means that the people they really need knows who can help them. Right. And he did help. If you go to millions of people in Brazil, they had the opportunity to go to school and to have University, because he did think about those low class. Let's improve the life expectancy in Brazil, let's improve the lifestyle. And yes. And that's why I think if he comes on power right now, if he comes back, even on Bosnia, people realize it's not that much. He's just being there, playing around, playing the King, the boss, and he's going to lose. I think his Crown when someone from the left comes and challenges him, which is Louis the man. I think to do that, I think it's going to be a good change. Brazil. There is a lot of controversy in what Lewis has done, which is I think politics are very hard from the inside, from the outside. We think that it's a way, right. It's just simple as it is. And I think there is so much more than that, right. If you want to play the game in there, you have to know how to play. Otherwise they take you out as simple as that. So you're going to have to compromise at some point with something. Otherwise you're not going to do nothing, right?

Uyi Agbontaen

Yeah. I was having this conversation a couple of weeks ago because I think when people think of Brazil, they don't think about the dictatorship.

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In fact, I'm sure a lot of people don't even know that there was a dictatorship in Brazil during the military regime that the US and the UK helped usher in when they toppled the democratically elected government of Brazil in 1864 and then proceeded to rule the country for the next 21 years under a highly oppressive regime, stealing the Amazon from the Indigenous tribes that have lived there for centuries and that have sovereign rights over it was something that was routinely done. They would just cut down trees. They would mine, they would log. Deep frustration was epidemic. And so Bolsonaro comes out of that tradition. He was part of the military regime, and he was a young army captain. He spent the last 30 years advocating that as a superior form of government. I think there's now a consensus internationally that as bad as Donald Trump has been as bad as Boris Johnson has been. Bolsonaro is in a League by himself when it comes to having mismanaged the Corona buyer's pandemic, not only because he mocked it and minimized it and dismissed it early on, but because he's been opposed on completely non scientific grounds to every form of social distancing, isolation, quarantine shutdown. He's encouraged people to go out into crowds. He, of course, himself contracted the virus. Brazil has the highest rate of confirmed cases, as well as the highest death rate of any country in the world except for the United States.

Uyi Agbontaen

Obviously, there's a right wing ideological similarity about football, Carnival, the beach. And they don't realize that for quite a long time, up until the 80s, there was a dictatorship. Right. And I think once Brazil came out of the dictatorship, I don't think they really wanted to talk about what happened during those years. It's like they kind of covered over what happened in the past.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. No one knows about those people don't really know unless you are Brazilian.

Uyi Agbontaen

A lot of people I know living in the UK, you say to people, there was a dictatorship from Brazil. What when, like, 30 years ago, no way. Yeah, there was.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

And I think the ex President, she was one of the fighters and she was arrested and she was like for five, six months in state of completely tortured. They were doing things with her that I never knew about and horrible things. And I got so much respect for a person that fought for our freedom and the democracy. As you said, no one talks about that. No one talks about how much how many people has died on those years, the curfews, the freedom of speech that has gone, the people they were fighting every day to actually get. No one talks about, as you said, it's being just wiped off of the people. Don't mention that even in school, there is an I think they should definitely. I think it's history. It's so important for us in the sense that do the same mistakes. Right. And then I think knowing that you would be sting twice.

Uyi Agbontaen

Brazil is an incredibly rich country indeed.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Right.

Uyi Agbontaen

Resources wise.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes.

Uyi Agbontaen

It is wealthy and at the same time, a lot of poverty. It is sad. There are a lot of countries like this. India incredibly wealthy in terms of resources. And there are very wealthy people who are the 5%, but a lot of poverty. And then you go to Africa, incredibly wealthy in terms of resources. But most nations extreme poverty.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. It's a game to keep the rich, Richie. Right. And then the poor. It's sad because we know that we would have a much better world if we all had the basic and we had the things that we all want, which is cool and food and a nice place to live and freedom of speech and peace in the end of the day. Right. But I think that doesn't bring the mentality of those in power that doesn't bring any money or profit to them. So they want to keep in this way. I believe they want to keep the system. And it's very tough for those that doesn't want to follow that mindset because you really put yourself at risk when you start speaking out about whatever power that is controlling anything. Really. Because once you start, if you start hurting the profit of someone that makes our money, it's a serious business. And again, one thing that people missing out. People are very powerful because today consumers, right. They are the ones that dictate the trends, dictate the things. And if people knew that power that they have in terms of, they could be changing things because until you get a notification of people deciding, okay, we need that. We just think we're going to get there. And eventually, because there's so much information out there, people are becoming more instructed in a way. Right. And then they going to realize I need to do something.

Uyi Agbontaen

Ethical consumption. I know now you're vegan, right?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes.

Uyi Agbontaen

How long have you been vegan?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. Almost seven years. Basically, it started when just watch Conspiracy, a documentary about veganism and how the meat industry are implicating our planet, our diets and everything else that really touched the bottom of my heart because starting a business with a purpose which were sustainability, health and do something better really didn't lie to myself. Like, okay, I'm embracing this company to show this to the world. And then I'm part of a system that perhaps not helping the main source of our products, which is Amazon. Right. And realizing that the main reason the trees are cut in Brazil today, it's to create space for meat farmers, for farmers, basically. And then secondary to wood and then third to struck gold and all sorts of minerals. So, yeah, that was the first reason. And that's always why we don't embrace. And I can probably say I stand for what I preach. And then obviously, with time, I understand that it's ethically speaking. I lost a little bit of the macho main aspect that I had that men need to be to admit, right. And I start saying, actually, I was doing that for the animals as well, because I believe that the animals, they don't need to be killed to provide myself and then eventually start to embrace all the aspects of the veganism that sometimes I call myself a plant based person. But vegan embrace more the concept of it.

Uyi Agbontaen

Yes.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

It's been six plus years. Very happy receiving. Somehow I think we always seek approval of our caretakers. Right. And obviously, my father, he's a farmer, like at heart. He grew up. He came from a family that moved from south of Brazil, Hugh Grand. They moved by horses and cattle, walking almost a month to come to this new state. And arriving there, lands everywhere just chose a piece of land because there are nine brothers, strong, nine brothers. They chose a massive piece of land, and they became the owners of that. So they were farmers, all my uncle. So I grew up in that environment, right. Of farmers. So that was one of my concerns. Obviously, although I have took the decision of the day, your parents, even if they don't realize you making that kid a little better than Union way, and he's going to surprise you. But you actually made that. And he's going to have different points of view base. So saying that he actually said to me, no, actually, I don't agree as well with what it's been done to the animals today. I don't agree with what people are serving to us anymore. So I'm completely fine with that. I respect the decision. And they come to London. Actually, they stayed on mind and they didn't have any animal really food for two weeks. They were like actually, a few lean and a few lifestyle.

Uyi Agbontaen

There are definitely a lot of health benefits to reducing your consumption of meat. But I also think veganism as a philosophy. Vegans have a healthy lifestyle philosophy. Anyway, it's not just about not eating the animal products, but it's also they're a lot more in tune with the health of their own system. You'll be interested in how it shapes the food industry going forward.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

I will do it. Definitely.

Uyi Agbontaen

And another thing you've done now, you don't drink anymore.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. As I said, we are powerful beyond measures, the consumer base. Right. And as we know, because of the Veganist movement, now you go to Tesco Sandsbury, whatever supermarket there you can find from cheese, milk and everything they want. You can find plant based now because there is a demand. So if there is a demand, companies will supply that. Right. Like, I know myself, I'm providing things that I know people will want. Right. And it's the same goes to the alcohol being in UK for all those years. I think UK has this culture of drinking, right? Yes. It's a massive culture, which I can't lie. I came from Brazil drinking. Right. So it's not that it was new for me. Right. But being the army don't drink as much, actually, a weekly thing they do right. From Thursday to Saturday or Sunday. Growing up, I think I've seen parents like my father. He drunk, right. And I think still remember case of fighting with my mom. So I think even like a very small age, I realized there was no good alcohol. Right. But then I realized that I have a Nanco as well. That has a massive problem with alcohol. Right. Which actually he's been out for 40 years. Right. He left my top 40 years. He just arrived yesterday. My mum wants him to go back. So still with our problem, right. He left with a bag. He came up with a bag. And I love to read books of interesting people that did something great in the world of people that changed things. And I came across a lot of interesting people that had took that decision to take off the drinks and that was buzzing. Why did they take that? It gives you more clarity. It gives you more debt. And also, I know I hate to be hungover. I hate the fights that happened with your girlfriend, with your partner because of the drink. I hate all those parts. I like the fun bit, right. The fun smile. All of those connections mix of seeing great people not drinking had expressed in my past drinking stuff, having someone in the Fame that still a drink. My father doesn't drink at all anymore. But he stopped and he stopped smoke as well. And that was a very interesting lesson, because I remember when your father just stopped smoking because you growing up, he doesn't want you to smoke. And I was like, ten or nine. And this was like, he stopped smoking. He was crazy eating things and because he didn't want to give an example to me. Right. So that gave a very interesting example that I can do that as well. I can stop things that I don't like, right. Which was in the case, was the drink. So I said I took a decision last year to do a month. And then I said, you know what? Actually, I'm going to go solar because I don't think it's giving me anything good rather than trouble. And perhaps you never know, because I think we as a human, we always need something to keep you sane away. They call that if you took out drugs, alcohol, sugar from society, society would be mad because people depends on those time to perhaps having a good time or this and that. But I was like, really, do we really need that? And is that because we can't be happy with ourselves without having a superstar? Those questions come and say, let's stop. And then it's been two years, actually, this month complete. Two years. Still a work in progress in the sense, I think there are things that will improve myself. Right. And drink was definitely one of those stuff. And I don't have that skills anymore. I don't look back and I won't look back. I think it's future is bright in the sense that I'm feeling. I can say I'm a health person that doesn't drink. I still enjoy life. I still go out there, still have alcohol free beer in the pub. You still have a nice crack with their legs. And that proves to perhaps people in future friends or friends. You don't need that because there are those people that know how to drink and perhaps they never had a problem. They don't have any trauma. Whatever life they have, they're going to be fine. There are people that they have to watch themselves, right? I'm none of those cases. I need to watch myself because I can go with the wrong path, right?

Uyi Agbontaen

At least you recognize that.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yes. I always say that there is a line in there. I don't want to play with that line because I think life is too precious. Also, I want to become a parent that perhaps won't give the same impression on apparently give to me when I was kid and I want to be a work in progress.

Uyi Agbontaen

Yeah. Like life. But, man, I think you've definitely got a good mindset, right? A healthy mindset. A healthy body. I think you know what you want and you know more importantly, what you don't want or what you don't need.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Yeah.

Uyi Agbontaen

Listen, we've done over an hour.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Amazing. That was my first, and I love to talk to you.

Uyi Agbontaen

It was really good, man. Thank you for coming.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Thank you.

Uyi Agbontaen

Really interesting. And, yeah, I'd love to speak to you again, bro. Before we go, where can people find you or your products?

Rayder Nogueira Machado

So my products are at amavita. Uk. So, Instagram. I think Instagram is always been our main face. We've got about 7000 people following us. Now. Our website is AmaVida. Com, so just am a hyphen. V-I-D-A. And myself as well. Can just shout out on the Instagram. My name is Ryder. Anyhow cool?

Uyi Agbontaen

All right, man. Thank you.

Rayder Nogueira Machado

Thank you so much.

Uyi Agbontaen

Thank you. Okay, guys. That was Heida. As always, check the show notes out for more information about my guests. Catch you guys in a couple of weeks time with a new episode. See you then. Bye.