São Paulo – The business meetings between Brazilians and Arabs at the Apas supermarket fair, which ended yesterday (21), in São Paulo, resulted in orders. Al Maya group, in the United Arab Emirates, closed a deal for the purchase of four containers of Tio João rice. Al Saeed, from Yemen, returns with deals developed in the sectors of dairy and biscuits.
Representatives of Al Saeed, which already import commodities from Brazil, visited factories Itambé, of dairy, and Bauducco, of biscuits. In the case of Itambé, the contacts had already been made last year. "After this participation in the fair, Arab businessmen should start importing products that were previously only bought from Europe and Asia," said the coordinator of the Foreign Trade Department at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Francisca Barros.
According to her, the business closed at the fair shows that the business roundtables, organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), were positive. "As it normally takes a while to close a deal," he said.
The business roundtables were a continuation of projects Flavours from Brazil, organized by the Apex, in Dubai, early this year. "The result of the meetings was exceptional as we managed to keep relations between Arabs and Brazilians from cooling after the Flavours from Brazil event," stated the Apex project manager, Vinícius Estrela. According to him, the Arabs could learn a little more about Brazilian products at the fair, which simplified negotiations. "They now know a little more about the Brazil partner," he added.
During the meeting, the marketing manager at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Andréa Monteiro, noticed that the Arabs were impressed with the quality and diversity of Brazilian products. "They sought from commodities to gourmet products," she said. An example was company Jordan Centre for Trade and Investment (JCT&I), from Jordan, which has a 5,000 square metre shop in Amman, the country capital, turned to high-end products. "This is my first time in Brazil. I am impressed with the market diversity," said the CEO of the group, Imad Bukhari.
The group, which does not yet import from Brazil, plans to start importing organic food. "I believe we are going to negotiate with some companies that have made contacts," said Bukhari. According to him, all the Brazilian companies showed great desire of starting to export to the Middle East, but not all are prepared. "It is necessary for the companies to work more in presentation of products, mainly packages," he said. "We must show confidence to Arab consumers, who do not know Brazilian products," he added.
Among the examples of Brazilian products with good acceptance, Bukhari mentioned the Franco Suissa group, which makes teas, sugar, pepper, sauces, jams and pumpkin sweet. The group, which only works with organic and natural products, does not yet export to the Arab market. "Preserves were very promising," stated the product coordinator, Heloisa Xocaira.
Among the 70 Brazilian companies that visited the Chamber stand over the three days of the event were Tirolez, of cheese and dairy. According to the export manager at the company, Paulo Hegg, Tirolez already exports to eight countries, among them Libya and Lebanon. I am interested in opening the market in the Gulf," he said. Another company present was Pacific, a company that sells sweets, cakes, biscuits and toast. "The roundtables were very interesting. Now it is time to prospect," stated trader Fabiano Fusco.
*Translated by Mark Ament
