São Paulo – Two representatives of the GMC trading company, based in Algeria, travelled to Brazil last week and closed deals worth US$ 400,000 with six Brazilian hard candy, lollipop and biscuit manufacturing companies. The business was intermediated by the Dubai-based company Green Space, which has a representative office in the state of Paraná. “This was just an initial order,” said the trader at Green Space, Reyadh Hanna.
According to Hanna, the Algerian trading company is one of the leading baking powder importers in the country, and started importing Brazilian sweets this year. The company is seeking manufacturers that already have packaging written in Arabic. “This is one of the most difficult things,” said Hanna.
Hanna, who accompanied the Algerians in their visits, GMC closed deals with companies empresas Doces Aladim, Riclan, Toffano and Simonetto, for hand candy and lollipops, and Marilan and Alves, for biscuits. The Brazilian products will be distributed to supermarkets and wholesalers in the Arab country.
Sweets manufacturing company Doces Aladim, for instance, already exports to Algeria, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, all of which together account for 30% of the company’s total foreign sales. Another company that is already present in the Arab market is Marilan. Out of the company’s exports, 20% goes to the region. Destinations include Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Early this year, the Algerians had already ordered two containers of hard candy and lollipops from the Aladim and Riclan companies, to be tested on the market. According to Hanna, the sweets were well accepted and the importers decided to come to Brazil to visit these companies and negotiate with others. “They have perspectives of closing further deals with new companies,” said Hanna.
Green Space, which is also a trading company, was established in Dubai in 2009. Initially, the company operated with imports of Brazilian sweets and biscuits. Hanna, who is one of the partners, also owns a distribution centre in the city of Curitiba, the capital of the state of Paraná, to store Arab products exported to Brazil, such as pistachio, dates, apricot, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, raisins, figs and olive oil.
Contact
Green Space
In Dubai
Telephone: +971 4 225-7216
Fax: +971 4 225-7217
Email: greenspc@eim.ae
In Curitiba
Reyadh Hanna
Mobile: +55 41 8800-0139
E-mail: reyadhhanna@hotmail.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
