Carlos Eduardo Ernanny turned a common summer annoyance into a profitable technology business that now generates roughly R$60,000 a month. After repeatedly struggling to place a simple order on a crowded Rio de Janeiro beach, Ernanny quantified the problem and built a practical solution for vendors and holidaymakers.
Beach service app Brazil speeds up orders on busy shores
During a single day of field work, Ernanny covered nearly 40 kilometres of coastline in Rio, timing how long it took customers to be served at quiosques and beach stalls. His informal survey showed an average wait of 13 minutes — long enough that passing vendors frequently won impulse sales and fixed stall owners lost business.
Using R$300,000 raised from friends and early backers, Ernanny and a small team developed a straightforward mobile platform that allows wait staff to enter orders on their phones rather than on scraps of paper. The system publishes menus in real time, tracks inventory and alerts sellers when items run low. The result: fewer errors, faster service and improved stock management.
For long-standing stall operators such as Jane Alves de Oliveira and Ana Paula Correa, who have run beach stands for 18 years, the digital tool has had an immediate impact. Jane says the service has halved service times and doubled turnover, while better inventory control has reduced spoilage and losses.
Tooda, the app behind the rollout, is already active across every major beach in Rio, in the resort town of Búzios, along the north and south coasts of São Paulo state and in parts of Ceará. The platform’s growth reflects rising demand among small hospitality businesses for affordable, mobile-first tools that simplify operations during peak periods.
Beyond faster orders, the platform offers owners operational data that can inform staffing levels and procurement. Small-scale vendors traditionally rely on experience and intuition to set stock and shifts. By contrast, real-time sales and inventory figures enable evidence-based decisions that can boost margins and reduce waste.
Investors and local entrepreneurs see potential beyond the Brazilian coast. The model — a low-cost, easy-to-use point-of-sale and inventory system tailored to high-volume, low-margin environments — could be adapted to other outdoor markets, event concessions and informal retail channels across Latin America.
While the app’s monthly revenue figure is notable for a niche service, the broader significance is how simple technological interventions can raise productivity for micro and small businesses. For beach vendors who operate on thin margins, a modest increase in conversion rates and a cut in spoilage can materially improve livelihoods and local tourism experiences.
Tooda lists contact details and social channels on its website, where operators can register and begin using the service. As coastal tourism rebounds after successive slow seasons, tools that speed service and tighten stock control may become standard for vendors aiming to capture footfall and reduce lost sales.
Ernanny’s venture illustrates a familiar pattern in Latin America’s start-up scene: founders who identify friction in everyday life, test it in the field and scale an affordable digital fix. In this case, a search for a cold beer on a hot day has led to an app that helps seaside businesses sell more efficiently and customers spend less time waiting.
Key Takeaways:
- Founder Carlos Eduardo Ernanny built a beach service app after timing average customer waits of 13 minutes on Rio beaches.
- The platform digitises orders, shows menus in real time, controls stock and reduces errors, helping vendors double revenue.
- Tooda raised R$300,000 in seed support and now operates across Rio, Búzios, São Paulo coasts and Ceará.
