Cris Doretto ‘72 Brings a Bit of Barstow into Business Ventures

But much before Doretto became a CEO, she spent her senior year of high school at Barstow — an experience to which she credits some of her success. Doretto came to Barstow in 1971 through AFS Intercultural Programs. 

“When I arrived the first day, the headmaster put the Brazilian flag on the stage in the auditorium,” Doretto said. Then-headmaster Gordon Lenci kept the flag up the whole year.  

At Barstow, Doretto participated in choir and remembers taking a three-week-long Chinese history class in the winter. One of her favorite Barstow memories was attending the Country Fair in the fall, and she fondly remembers faculty and staff including Mary Engel, Art Crumm, Fern Pine, Jim Combs and more. 

She recalled the difficulty of getting in touch with family and friends back home. At the time, Doretto was dating her now-husband. It would sometimes take hours to connect via telephone, so Doretto and her husband wrote letters. 

“Many, many letters — more than a 100,” Doretto said. “Almost every day I would go to the post office biking and send a letter.” 

Just as Doretto was dating her future husband in high school, so too was her host sister, Pam Sutherland Gyllenborg ‘72, who was dating classmate John Gyllenborg ‘72. Doretto formed a close relationship with the Sutherland family during her time in Kansas City, and now remains close to them and the Gyllenborg family, among other Barstow connections. Doretto’s son, Guilherme Doretto ‘99, stayed with Pam and John when he followed in his mother’s footsteps and came to Kansas City his senior year. Doretto’s younger son, Fabio Doretto ‘01, also attended Barstow for a year and stayed with then-Spanish teacher Veronica Egon. 

Doretto said she was especially grateful for the hospitality of her host parents, Barbara Welch Thompson ‘44 and Robert Sutherland. 

“I can’t express my gratitude for them and how they embraced me in their family,” she said. 

Doretto’s experience at Barstow and in Kansas City improved her English and introduced her to industrialized foods — two factors that helped her rise the ranks in her industry. 

 

Doretto’s career began at a family-owned confectionery business in her hometown of Marília, Brazil. It was later bought by Beatrice Foods, and then, Nestlé. During her 17 years at these companies, Doretto held a variety of jobs including quality manager and manager of research and development. When Nestlé bought the company in the late ‘80s, Doretto realized that she would need to move from Marília in order to grow in the company — something she was not willing to do. So instead, Doretto decided to start her own company: Carino Ingredientes. 

Her first big client was Unilever. They hired Carino Ingredientes to supply their roasted peanuts for peanut butter. 

Doretto grew her business by providing ingredient solutions to big companies. For example, some of the larger businesses in Brazil would make low quantities of certain goods for only a few days a year — something not especially worth their while. So Doretto began providing those goods for the larger companies. 

“I wanted to develop an industry that would work for other companies — not the final product,” Doretto said. 

She founded Carino Ingredientes in 1993. Today, the company has 550 employees. 

Doretto also founded a nonprofit after-school program called Carino Social serving vulnerable students from poor communities. Fifty-five children currently attend the program, which offers  lunch followed by activities such as Judo, meditation, music and reading classes, tutoring services and more. Carino Social is in its seventh year of operation. 

In July, Doretto returned to Barstow with her son Fabio, his wife Luiza, and Pam Gyllenborg. They were dropping Fabio and Luiza’s 8-year-old daughter Helena off at Summer at Barstow. She was enrolled in a cooking camp — combining the family’s passion for food and their appreciation for Barstow into a connection spanning three generations.