São Paulo – The business matchmaking event organized by the Halal do Brasil project on Monday (24) and next Wednesday (26) is bringing together six Arab importers and 36 food and beverage companies. The meetings are part of the program of the Brazil & Arab Countries Economic Forum, which will be held Tuesday (25) in São Paulo by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC).
The Halal do Brasil project promotes made-in-Brazil halal products overseas, with halal meaning compliant with Islamic rules. The business matchmaking event organized by the project features six Arab companies: Bahrain’s Al Zaeem, which is seeking suppliers of spices, jams and sauces; Saudi Arabia’s Tanmiah, looking for açaí, coffee and meat products; Jordan’s SKM Tejaree, seeking cheese, rice and coffee suppliers; UAE-based Rezfood, which is looking for gourmet products; Khayrat Al-Reef, also from the United Arab Emirates, which wants to buy snacks and sauces; and Morocco’s LabelVie, seeking rice and jams.
Rezfood Managing Director Damon Afkari said the company has operations in Dubai, UAE, and Madrid, Spain. The trading company focuses on supplying the Gulf market with premium and exotic products.
“We are looking for new products, new packaging and new ideas. If you are different from the others, the doors will be open to you,” he said. “I believe Brazil has many exotic products that, because of the distance, have not yet reached the UAE,” citing açaí and its derivatives as an example.
Khayrat Al-Reef Managing Director Ahmed Shokry also cited açaí as an attractive business opportunity. On his first trip to Brazil, he liked meetings with suppliers of cookies, waffles, acai and acai-based products. He said the product was one of his favorites because it is unique. Shokry also said Brazilian products are competitive and that he hopes to do business with Brazilian companies but noted that shipping times from Brazil to the UAE, where the company is based, are a challenge. Transit generally takes 33 days.
“I’ll study the prices when I return and then decide whether they are competitive and whether we can buy or not. But I can say that the prices are very good for cookies and waffles.”
He also expressed interest in buying açaí coffee, saying that, with a marketing campaign to introduce the product to the Gulf market, it could achieve strong sales.
Tanmiah Supply Chain General Manager Faisal Akbar said his main interest is buying frozen chicken and beef to ship to the company’s plants in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where the meat would be processed and resold.
Water for the UAE
Among the Brazilian companies, Águas Especiais da Pedra was represented by CEO and co-founder Fábio Meaulo and COO and co-founder Almir Meaulo. The company produces and bottles premium water in the countryside of São Paulo and is preparing to enter the UAE market. Under the name Bruea Drinks & Foods, it established a presence in Rakez, the free zone in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. It obtained halal certification and was in the process of certifying its water when the conflict in the Middle East began in February, delaying its plans. Ocean freight costs rose, making exports unviable for the time being.
The plans, however, remain on track. Fábio said the product is of superior quality and fits the UAE market. The company’s water is slightly acidic, with low mineralization and low total dissolved solids, resulting in water that enhances the flavor of food.
“It is a unique water. The country with the world’s second-largest aquifer [Brazil] has no global representative [among premium waters]. So, we began developing a water with specific characteristics and properties,” Fábio said before heading to another business meeting to present Águas Especiais da Pedra to a UAE company. “We expect to promote the product and establish partnerships that will help us enter that market.”
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Brazil expands cookie exports to the Middle East
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
