The cookies are handmade and can be ordered on the social networks Facebook and Instagram and at the Mercado Municipal da Ribeira Grande, store 10.
Previously, these cookies could only be ordered via social media, but later, the possibility arose to start using the space in the Ribeira Grande Municipal Market because Store 10 was originally a hamburger store run by Joana Pinheiro’s mother.
Once store 10 was remodeled, the Bogangas space officially opened in February last year.

“We’re getting more and more customers.”

On-site, we spoke to Susie Rodrigues, who told us how the business was going. “The business is going well, thank God. We’re getting more and more customers who come here to see us, but also through social networks, which help us where we can also take part in many fairs, which ends up giving the brand more visibility.”
From Monday to Friday, the store opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 8 p.m., but on Saturdays, it closes at 9 p.m. in the winter. Then, in the summer, the closing time increases by another hour, meaning that it opens at 11:00 and closes at 21:00 during the week, but on Saturdays, it closes at 22:00. Sunday is a rest day.

Bogangas are sold in leading stores.

The Bogangas store is only a year old, but our interviewee has already noticed that sales fluctuate throughout the year, with better results in the summer and a drop in the winter. “The summer was very good, with lots of tourists coming to the Ribeira Grande Municipal Market, but then there was a decline, especially in October and November. However, this drop is made up for with orders, which we then get through social media.”
Bogangas are strategically sold all over the island to complement online sales, but they can also be bought at the Gorreana Tea Factory, Príncipe dos Queijos, or Rei dos Queijos.
At the invitation of Ribeira Grande Town Council, Bogangas were present at the Lisbon Tourism Exchange at the beginning of March.

Bogangas for all tastes

Bogangas made from tea or aromatic herbs from the island of São Miguel are the top-selling products. Still, there are other homemade delicacies, such as bogangovo, born from the combination of traditional chocolate with a caramel filling and the acclaimed “sacred” cookie. It is a delicious treat for Easter. The Bola de Berlim and Cookie Shot are other delights.
When it comes to Bogangas, you can choose from a variety of flavors: Sagrada (Green Tea, Chocolate, and Almonds); Sem frutos (Black Tea, Bergamot, and Double Dark Chocolate); Crumble de Maçã (Lúcia-Lima, Apple and Cinnamon); D’Ananás (Green Tea with Jasmine and Pineapple); Fresca (Black Tea with Mint, Dark Chocolate and Walnuts); Sonhadora (Pennyroyal, Strawberries and White Chocolate); Calafona (Green Tea with Hibiscus, Peanuts, and Blackberry Jam), among others.

Growing more and more

The future belongs to God, but Susie Rodrigues says the partners have ambitions to grow. “We also want to grow in distribution because we want to export outside the region, but we also aspire to have, who knows, a factory, not least because it’s just the two of us who produce Bogangas.”
Around 20 bags of Bogangas are produced each day. Each 15-gram bag contains 20 Bogangas, and the 100-gram bags contain seven Bogangas.
If you multiply the number of Bogangas by the 20 bags produced daily, you still get many cookies.
For those who don’t know, Susie Rodrigues is from the island of Madeira and came to São Miguel to study at the University of the Azores in 2014, where she took a degree in Sociology.
Her partner Joana Pinheiro worked at the Gorreana Tea Factory and soon realized that she wanted to give value to a product that is so characteristic of São Miguel, tea. She made cookies for friends and family, which was a success. She joined forces with Susie Rodrigues, who began making Bogangas with different varieties of tea and other ingredients. Joana Pinheiro has a degree in History.

Marco Sousa is a journalist for Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros, director.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)