São Paulo – Agrobrasil, a trading company based in Londrina, Paraná state, begun to export green coffee to the Arab countries. The first shipments were made in March to Kuwait with sales also made to Syria. Algeria should receive the product in August and there’s also the possibility of beginning exports soon to Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, according to Nadia Abdallah, representative of the company for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena). “The Arab really likes the Brazilian coffee”, says Abdallah.
Agrobrasil was founded in 2009 and started its operations with coffee sales to the Italian market, where the company has an office. Over the years, the exporting company begun to operate in other European markets, such as Germany, Russia, Latvia, Greece and Slovenia, and trade wide range of products, among them refined sugar, brown sugar and powdered milk. But coffee was always the flagship of business.
The trading company buys coffee grown in the main Brazilian producing regions, such as Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná and Espírito Santo, and sells it mainly in 60kg bags. Green coffee is the main product in volume to be shipped, but roasted coffee is also sold to Italy to the brand Roma Special Coffee, and soon ground coffee will be sold also, says Abdallah.
Agrobrasil begun to trade recently a new brand, Samba Caffè, ready for the end consumer. With this brand, the coffee is dealt in packages of 250 grams, 500 grams and 1 kg, besides the capsules. Despite the fact that until now the Arabs bought mostly green coffee, Samba will also be offered to the Middle East and North Africa, says Abdallah.
Agrobrasil’s investment in the Arab countries started around a year ago. One of the actions taken was a business prospecting trip to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, earlier this year, at the time of Gulfood, the largest food fair in the Middle East. After the fair, through indications made by contacts made in the event, they sold to Kuwait and Syria. The Algerians found out about Agrobrasil via internet.
Between September and October, the trading company will take another trip to the Arab world, to Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, besides European countries, to search for new business. The representative for Mena says that the company will offer to the Arabs a range of possibilities, such as private label sales (with the client’s label), with adaptations ordered by the customer.
Agrobrasil exports around 80,000 to 100,000 coffee bags per year. Exports to Arabs totaled 10,000 bags. The target is for this volume to grow at least 20% this year and that in 2016 half of the company’s coffee exports to head to Arab countries, according to Abdallah. She says that the perception of the Brazilian coffee among Arabs is good. There are, however, according to the representative, few Brazilian companies of the sector that are well-known in the region’s market. Because of this, the representative believes in these countries’ potential.
Agrobrasil wants to serve well the Arab countries. It is analyzing a way to produce Samba Caffè according to the Arab taste and will offer it in packages written in Arabic. The company is also testing a blend coffee with cardamom, a lightly-scented spice that gives a special taste to the drink, and is very appreciated by the Arab consumers.
Contact:
Agrobrasil Trading
Website: www.agrobrasilcoffee.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/agrobrasilcoffee
Email: export@agrobrasilcoffee.com
Phone: (11) 2886 3856 – (11) 985469231
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
