Influencer is successful when evaluating savory snacks in the center of BH: ‘I’m going to talk’

Maybe you still don’t know Jorge Valença and his catchphrase “what’s up, BH? Are you so good?”, but certainly the owners and managers of snack bars and restaurants in the center of Belo Horizonte already know who the guy is – who is successful on social media evaluating snacks, snacks and prepared dishes. There are businesspeople who dream of seeing you giving a positive review of their products, while others fear the influencer’s sincere reviews.

By the way, Jorge’s most liked video on his entire timeline is the one in which he secretly films the insults received by the employees of a pastry shop that had received a bad review. “Every time I go there, someone calls me trash. But I ignore it”, says Jorge, who has more than 30 thousand followers on Instagram and almost 20 thousand on TikTok, all eager for gastronomic reviews on very popular foods.

The secret to his success is not accepting barter or advertising contracts – like most gastronomy profiles on social media. Jorge is the one who pays for all the meals evaluated, thanks to the Pix made by his followers. He makes a point of showing sincerity in his evaluations, which cover everything from the temperature of the food to the pepper sauce offered by the restaurant. If it’s not good, he “talks” anyway.

“Snack bar people come to me to go and record and ask how much I’m going to charge. But I can’t accept it. If people who follow me suspect that I have accepted a payment, I will lose all my engagement. The people who follow me want sincerity”, explains the 35-year-old influencer, who is expanding the focus of his reviews beyond the city center.

Check out one of Jorge Valença’s videos:

@jorgevalenca.jpg restaurante food belohorizonte foryou ♬ original sound – Jorge Valença

Recently, he made a pilgrimage to hot dog stands in Venda Nova, the region where he lives, and evaluated the food around Arena MRV, in the Northwest region of Belo Horizonte. “But most people really like the videos in the Center’s cafeterias”, he acknowledges.

Organic growth

The work of an influencer came about naturally and in a surprising way. During the 2022 World Cup, Jorge went to check out a promotion at a restaurant in the capital of Minas Gerais and his wife came up with the idea of ​​recording a video. “I didn’t want to at all, but she convinced me and I posted it unpretentiously. The next day, when I saw it, the video had 30 thousand views,” she recalls.

From then on, he started posting one video a day on Tiktok. But it was on Instagram that he really boomed, gaining an audience week by week, organically. “I publish videos every day. I don’t stop posting, so that engagement doesn’t drop,” he explains.

Until November last year, Jorge worked in the planning sector of a call center company, in the city center. The videos were made during lunch breaks, tasting various foods from the surrounding area. Some good, some very bad. “I don’t always go to the place I know is good, because videos about bad food get me the most engagement. But you have to remember that it’s a matter of taste. There are places that tell me it’s bad, but when I arrive I think it’s good. And there are places that tell me it’s good, but I think it’s bad.”

The videos went viral and were not well accepted by everyone at the company he worked for – after all, his badge ends up appearing in some images. Last November, Jorge ended up being fired and decided to invest in his work as a digital influencer – although he is still looking for ways to monetize his productions.

As he does not accept exchanges or invitations for advertising, so far the profitability with social networks comes from Pix made by followers. “With this money, I pay for food and some household bills”, he guarantees.

His expectation is to win an influencer contest at Loja do Galo, which promises remuneration of around R$10,000 per month. And Jorge has two things going for him in this dispute: he actually wears Atlético shirts in practically all of his videos and a consistent number of loyal followers.

Jorge is following his own path, without worrying about success formulas. Before his success on the networks, he only followed one profile dedicated to food: Baixa Gastronomia, by journalist Nenel, who has 610 thousand followers on Instagram, showing the delights of bars in BH. “It was really cool when I saw he was following me! Now we’re talking, arranging to record in some places.”

Jorge Valença’s videos in the Center of BH are his followers’ favorites

Work companion

Jorge’s wife, Jaine Oyakawa (better known among followers as A Morena), also participates in this entire career-building process as an influencer. She is the one who is with Jorge in almost all gastronomic reviews and who reviews the sweets – since he is diabetic. She is also the one who adds products of oriental origin to the videos.

“She has also been making videos. She is shyer than me, but much more competent, she communicates better. People really like my content because of its authenticity, because the only thing I have is authenticity. She has more charisma”, he says about Morena.

And what is the health of a diabetic, eating so many foods full of carbohydrates and fat? Jorge guarantees that he pays attention to his health. “On the day I’m going to eat a lot somewhere, I take care of myself throughout the day, I only eat salad”, he guarantees.