“People think I was rich, but no. I was living under coconut trees selling sandwiches.” Ricardo D’Souza, co-owner of Tito’s, began by addressing how his mother, a woman with an iron heart, decided to expand the family-run business by buying a place in Calangute back in 1989. Established by Tito Henry De Souza in 1971, Tito’s will celebrate its Golden Jubilee on 19th November 2021.
Tito’s still stands to be the most famous and popular nightlife place in Goa. Located at Tito’s Lane in Baga, North Goa, Tito’s was one of the first discotheques in the state to provide electrifying lights, rhythmic music, and a thundering dance floor for party lovers during tourist season.
Being successfully in business for 50 years, Ricardo D’Souza, along with his brother and co-partner, has decided to expand their homegrown business nationally and internationally. In order to do so, Ricardo D’Souza added experienced and talented Goans in his journey to make Tito’s a global brand. “We are bringing in world class talent.” With finance experts to marketing experts on board, Tito is ready to start a new chapter.
Ricardo D’Souza will be launching ‘Tito’s Eats’ on 19th November 2021 that will deliver food to its customers who want their food to be delivered home. He will also launch ‘Tito’s Fashion’ will also be introduced where they will bring in various kinds of products. He also informed how they have already started with the manufacturing of headphones. He also said that he would be launching ‘Tito’s TV’ on 1st January 2021. The focus would be to provide entertainment to its customers.
They will also launch ‘Tito’s Travels’ on 19th November 2021. The aim is to provide tourists in Goa with tourism packages that will help the tourist with safe accommodation and traveling. He noticed how tourists tend to get harassed. He promised that his packages would make sure that the tourists do not get harassed, and they’ll be kept safe from any kinds of mishappenings.
The D’Souza brothers have also started with a new affiliate called ‘Tito’s Hotels’ which has begun operations in two properties and will be expanding with six more by August 2022. Tito’s is expanding globally and has started its first Club Tito’s franchise in Pune and will see 27 more within the next 18 months across globally.
Till now, Ricardo D’Souza has been donating meals for various feasts. He has donated apartments to those families who needed one. He acknowledged the fact about how the people living in Calangute would rather sleep with an empty stomach than ask for food. With that in mind, Ricardo D’Souza expressed his thoughts on wanting to provide free food to those who need it and are in and around Calangute.
Ricardo D’Souza also said that he has been and will still continue with his charity work. They have already launched ‘Tito’s Foundation’ that will look into the needs of the underprivileged and homeless with immediate effect.
Questions regarding him being active in politics also surfaced. When asked how he will manage his business and politics if he decides to join, he stated that he has full faith in his team members who will be helping him grow the business globally.
TEXT – PRAKRITI BHOWMICK
