Brazil native plunges into Battle Creek churro business

Most small businesses start with a dream. Elisangela Diaz's, however, began with a craving.

"I said, 'I want to eat churros,' but they don't have it here like in Brazil," she said. "I wanted to try to make churros."

With that in mind, Diaz launched Eli's Doces, a small startup churro business, in the kitchen at First Congregational Church in Battle Creek. She said she carefully crafted a recipe that blends the time-honored ingredients of the dish -- fried dough, cinnamon sugar and frosted filling -- with local consumer interests. And as far as she can tell, it's already paying off.

Now six weeks into the venture, Eli's Doces is featured in at least five Michigan stores including Battle Creek's Horrocks Farm Market. Diaz also has her eye on expanding to the Battle Creek Farmers Market, which could come as early as next week.

For Diaz, it's as much about filling a gap in the market as it is sharing a taste of her old home with her new one.

"The churros bring up a lot of memories," she said. "I remember my infancy, when I was little, my uncle, I'd go and visit and there were churros. My city in Brazil, it's a small city and it doesn't have churros and I had to drive an hour to eat churros. For me, it was heaven."

Diaz moved to Battle Creek from Brazil in April 2006. She began learning English — her native language is Portuguese — at the Battle Creek YMCA, where she met her eventual husband, Santos Diaz.

The couple have two children together, Natalia, 7, and Sophia, 4.

She made her first churro several years ago from a recipe she found on the internet. Gradually, she tweaked the amount of eggs and margarine in the batter — as well as the equipment she used — until she got the taste where she wanted it to be. Then she tested it on her friends and her husband's co-workers at Johnson Controls Inc.

With the launch of Eli's Doces, Diaz said she used local resources to get it off the ground.

Among them were her friend and Kingman Museum board president, Michelle Frank, Downtown Development Director John Hart and Amanda Lankerd, program developer for Generation E Institute and the Center for Entrepreneurship.

Lankerd said she has worked with Diaz to craft a business plan and to help her scale up her business, as it is growing quickly. Of Eli's Doces, Lankerd said the next step likely is finding Diaz a small retail or manufacturing space while looking to automate her production process.

"I think the light bulb went off because people here aren’t used to having that type of product here in Battle Creek," Lankerd said. "I am extremely excited about her business. Her tenacity, her, I mean, honestly, it’s unheard of for somebody who just started out to already be in stores.

"It’s crazy the growth she’s had in six weeks."

That certainly isn't lost on Diaz, who's optimistically looking ahead to the next six weeks of her business.

"I am so happy with this, yes," she said. "My husband and I work so hard. He helps me and God is so good to me, opening doors. My friends say to me, 'I can't believe you are in Sawall (Health Foods in Kalamazoo),' and I tell them God opened the doors for me."

More information about Eli's Doces is available on Diaz's Facebook page or by contacting her at elischurros@gmail.com.

Contact Dillon Davis at 269-966-0698 or dwdavis@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DillonDavis