We recently connected with Daniel Pereira and have shared our conversation below.
Daniel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
Absolutely — naming a business is a journey in itself. For us, it all started with “Panateca.” We began as a Venezuelan bakery, and in Spanish, pan means bread. We wanted a name that felt rooted in our culture but also had a broader, almost poetic touch. The suffix -teca, as in discotheque or bibliotheque, means a collection. So Panateca became “a collection of breads.”
But there’s more. In Venezuela, the word pana is a beloved colloquialism for a close friend — it actually derives from the English word partner, a legacy of U.S. influence during the oil boom years. So Panateca also became, in a playful and heartfelt way, “a collection of friends.” A place of gathering. A place where food and connection meet.
As our concept evolved, so did our name. We launched “Arepateca,” a spin-off focused on our arepas — Venezuela’s most iconic food. The name followed the same logic: a curated collection of arepas, infused with warmth, culture, and creativity. Just like our brand.
Daniel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m Daniel Pereira, a Venezuelan-born economist turned food entrepreneur. My journey started in policy and research, working with global institutions like the World Bank to understand and improve lives across Latin America. But somewhere along the way, I felt the urge to build something of my own — something tangible, cultural, and rooted in human connection. That’s how Panateca was born.
Panateca started as a Venezuelan bakery, a place to showcase the incredible diversity of breads and pastries from our home country, and eventually evolved into a broader culinary project. Today, under the brand Arepateca, we specialize in creative, elevated Venezuelan arepas, desserts, and natural beverages like our sugarcane limeades. We operate a food truck, appear at farmers markets, do catering, and recently launched a collaborative kitchen concept inside a café — our first semi-permanent location.
What sets us apart is how we bridge tradition and innovation. Our flavors are rooted in Venezuelan heritage, but we’re not afraid to play — with textures, presentations, and culinary influences from around the world. We make everything from scratch, sourcing natural ingredients, and taking great pride in how our food looks, tastes, and makes people feel.
This business has also allowed me to nurture one of my oldest passions: art. From designing our visual identity to curating the aesthetics of every product, menu, and plate, creativity is woven into everything we do. I lead the production of all our Instagram content — from idea generation to editing and final publication. Each reel, each photograph, even the music we choose, is intentional and part of a broader narrative. I think of our food and digital presence as extensions of the same artistic instinct: to evoke emotion, tell a story, and build beauty into everyday experiences.
At its core, Arepateca is about community. In Venezuela, pana means friend, and that spirit runs deep in everything we do. We don’t just serve food — we create spaces of joy, nostalgia, and cultural celebration. I’m most proud of how far we’ve come — from a farmers market stand to being recognized across the DMV for having some of the most flavorful and inventive Venezuelan food out there.
If there’s one thing I’d want readers to know, it’s this: we’re more than a food brand. We’re a story of migration, of reinvention, of honoring where you come from while embracing where you are. We’re building something delicious, expressive, and meaningful — one arepa at a time.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I think what’s helped us build a reputation in our market is a mix of consistency, storytelling, and creative risk-taking. From the start, we’ve committed to delivering food that doesn’t just satisfy — it surprises. We take traditional Venezuelan dishes and reimagine them without losing their soul, and that has resonated deeply with people looking for both authenticity and innovation.
But beyond the product itself, I believe our reputation has grown because we treat our work as a living, evolving craft. Creativity is not an afterthought — it’s built into our process. We intentionally reserve at least 10% of our time for what we call “play”: research and development, testing new flavor combinations, rethinking how we plate or present something, or even just experimenting with a visual for a reel or a campaign. That space to dream and explore is essential. It’s how we stay relevant, inspired, and ahead of the curve.
This creative discipline shows up not only in our menu — which changes and adapts — but also in how we show up as a brand. Our visuals, our voice, our events… they all tell a cohesive story, and I think people notice when you’re being intentional and having fun doing it.
We also built trust by showing up — week after week, in farmers markets, food festivals, catering gigs. That reliability, paired with the unexpected creativity of our food and our brand, helped people believe in what we’re doing. Over time, that belief became word-of-mouth, loyal customers, and a real presence in the community.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Life, in many ways, is just a series of pivots — and I’ve learned that the only way to move forward is by adapting, even when it’s uncomfortable or uncertain.
From migrating countries to launching Arepateca as a spin-off of our original bakery Panateca, pivoting has been a constant theme in my journey. But one of the most defining shifts happened just last June, when I made the decision to leave behind my former career path — one rooted in policy and research — and dedicate myself fully to the business.
That decision didn’t come easy. I was going through a personal separation at the time, and professionally I felt increasingly disconnected. I realized I was trapped in an environment that, while intellectually stimulating, had become rigid and performative — a place more focused on being right than on doing right. Institutions and people I once admired had lost sight of what really mattered. I felt consumed, out of touch with the human side of the work, and it eventually led me into depression.
Leaving that world felt like a salto al vacío — a leap into the unknown. And to make things more complex, we hit winter shortly after. Farmers markets slowed down, sales dropped, and everything seemed harder. But I used that time strategically: I doubled down on the systems, worked on our branding and menu, nurtured the relationships and revenue streams we did have, and prepared for the season ahead.
Now, slowly but surely, we’re starting to see the fruits of that investment — increased visibility, stronger sales, and exciting collaborations. But perhaps most importantly, that difficult pivot brought me back to myself. It gave me the clarity and energy I needed to see and act on the opportunity that has now become our next big leap — a new café location that feels like the perfect continuation of everything we’ve built.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that every pivot — no matter how messy or painful — holds the potential for realignment, for growth, and for rediscovering purpose.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/arepateca
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arepateca/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/arepateca-rockville-3
