Carlos Prado’s Biography Launches at PecBrasil as a Blueprint for Corporate Resilience
FORTALEZA – Within the business landscape, few trajectories manage to seamlessly stitch together the structural stability of the industrial sector and the innovative power of agribusiness quite like that of entrepreneur Carlos Prado. This Friday, June 26, at 10:30 AM, the Ceará Event Center will witness one of the most significant cultural and institutional milestones of the PECBRASIL 2026 schedule: the launch of the biographical book chronicling the footsteps, trials, and resurgence of the founder of Itaueira Agropecuária—the eternal “Melon King.”
Born in Marília, in the interior of São Paulo, Carlos Prado moved with his family to Ceará 53 years ago. Since then, he has adopted the state by right and affection, becoming one of the most admired and consulted leaders within both the Federation of Industries of the State of Ceará (FIEC) and the Agriculture and Livestock Federation of Ceará (FAEC).
The nearly 500-page work, featuring an afterword by Francílio Dourado, was born from a joint initiative by Ricardo Cavalcante (President of FIEC) and Amílcar Silveira (President of FAEC). They recognized that a story of such magnitude does not belong solely to the one who lived it, but serves as a guiding compass for the next generation of entrepreneurs in the country.
From Ceará Máquinas Agrícolas to the Itaueira Empire
The biography details the complete arc of Prado’s life—an entrepreneur whose ventures generate more than 4,000 direct jobs and who embodies the true meaning of corporate resilience.
His journey in Fortaleza began with absolute audacity. While searching for a property to install Ceará Máquinas Agrícolas (Cemag), his first industrial project on the capital’s west side, Prado negotiated directly with the late industrialist Edson Queiroz. Lacking a guarantor because he was a newcomer to the city, Queiroz waived the requirement with a memorable phrase: “I trust your face. No guarantor needed.”
Cemag flourished, but the severe and successive federal economic plans of past decades imposed extreme hardships that dragged the company into profound crises. It was Carlos Prado’s personal credibility within the market and his unshakeable faith that guaranteed the financial restructuring and subsequent rebirth of the business.
Once the industrial storm cleared, Prado and his children envisioned precision fruit cultivation as their passport to the future. Founding Itaueira Agropecuária, they acquired lands across Ceará, Piauí, and Bahia, giving life to the premium brand “Rei” (King). The “Rei” melon, internationally renowned for its superior sweetness and unmatched quality standards, rapidly conquered leadership in the domestic market and gained prime space on international retail shelves across Europe, the United States, Canada, and the Middle East.
Today, under the executive management of his son, Tom Prado (CEO of Itaueira), the empire has highly diversified. The “Rei” brand now stamps the high-yield production of watermelons, colored bell peppers, premium fruit juices, seedless grapes, giant shrimp, and organic honey—the latter connecting directly to the export debates dominating PECBRASIL this week.
The Real Foundation: The Prado Family Ritual
Behind the business titan lies a family structure that Carlos and the family matriarch, Dona Rosarita, paved as the true foundation of everything. The biography opens the doors to the entrepreneur’s deeply human side, revealing the traditional Sunday gatherings that bring together children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren at his apartment.
It is a warm and lively environment where the conversation flows freely between political and economic analysis, the grandchildren’s academic achievements, and reports from the extensive technical auditing trips that Tom Prado conducts weekly across the group’s expansive farms.
📅 Launch Event Details – CTN Hub
The ceremony is open to guests and all registered participants of the event:
- Date: June 26 (Friday)
- Time: 10:30 AM
- Venue: PECBRASIL – Ceará Event Center (Auditorium 2 – Mezzanine I, 1st Floor)
- Special Highlight: Complimentary copies of the biography will be distributed to those attending the ceremony, followed by an exclusive book-signing session with Carlos Prado.
For the CTN Hub (Ceará Today Network), covering the launch of this work means recording the living history of Ceará’s economic development. Carlos Prado transformed the semi-arid soil into global wealth, and his journey proves that integrity and persistence remain the finest inputs for success.
