Why Experience Matters

Rainier Abreu is a global business executive with over 20 years of management experience. Fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, he has worked in Business Development and Operations across a wide range of markets and industries. Abreu grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, meeting his wife, Tatiana, at the tender age of nine.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Simon Bolivar University in 2000 and his Masters of Business Administration from Emory University in 2009. Beginning his career in Caracas, with Mitsubishi Motors, Abreu has a history of leading multicultural organizations and cross-functional teams. For over 10 years, Abreu worked in strategic planning and competitive analysis before switching gears to try his hand in the restaurant world. In 2018, believing there was a need for a high quality coffee shop in the city of Parkland, Abreu and his good friend of 25 years, Rafael Baretta came to the decision to open Carmela Coffee Company. With Abreu's corporate experience and Baretta's entrepreneurial spirit, they pooled their talents and resources to make it a reality.

In addition to creating an application where customers can buy coffee direct, they also have a foundation helping coffee workers in Costa Rica and Colombia. The lifelong friends have expanded to five corporate locations in three years and are in the process of opening multiple franchises to fill the void in other areas. "We have become part of the community," said Abreu. "People see us as a part of their lives, which is what I see Carmela being throughout South Florida." Abreu is married to his childhood crush, Tatiana, and lives in Parkland, Florida with their two children, Mathias, 12 and Alana, 7.