São Paulo – A group of buyers of seven companies from Arab and Muslim-majority countries had business appointments in Brazil throughout this week, with visits to plants like that of juice company Natural One and QPrime Açaí, of açaí, and meatpackers like BRF and JBS. The buyers also participated in a B2B in the headquarters of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), where they had the opportunity to meet some Brazilian food companies.
One of the participants, trading firm Four N Group, was founded in Egypt in 1988 by CEO Mostafa Abbas and now has representation in the United Arab Emirates, where his daughter Nihal Mostafa is CEO for Dubai. The company mostly buys inputs for the food, steel, mining and dishwashing soap industry. Pictured above, from L to R, Nihal e Mostafa.
“We are interested in buying sugar, coffee, poultry, ore, steel, particularly for the Egyptian market,” said Nihal, aiming at expanding the company and diversifying its suppliers, most of which are in China, India, Russia, Poland, and other countries. “We want more volumes and different origins,” said Nihal. Both Mostafa and Nihal were in the B2B and visits.
Importer and exporter Morshy Group of Sudan was set up in 2014 and wants to buy commodities, particularly sugar and sesame, but also soybeans and coffee from Brazil. General manager Mezab Mohammed said that besides Sudan, the company has offices in the UAE, Egypt, and others.
“Brazilian sugar is high-quality. We want to strike a strategic partnership with Brazil to buy sugar from here,” said Mezab, who was in the B2B with Morshy Group founder Mohamed Mustafa.
Mezab said the demand of sesame is high. They buy it from countries like Mozambique and Chade, and Sudan’s production is insufficient, she says.
“We’re seeking an opportunity in Brazil, and we’ll participate in 2024’s APAS Show and Gulfood selling our products, too,” said Mezab. The Morshy Group mostly buys and sells agricultural goods like oilseeds, vegetables, herbs, and gum arabic.
Other participating companies were Pok Brothers, of Malaysia, represented by COO Natalie Yew; Drops General Trading Company, represented by Khaled El Atat; AM Group Misr, with Ashraf Marzouk Aziz Khalil; Frigomar Co., with Ragy Emam Mostafa Kamel; and Juba Sky LTD, with Banaga Bereir Elzen Abdelgadir.
The businesspeople were in the country due to the Halal do Brasil project that’s carried out by the ABCC and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) aiming to foster Brazilian value-added halal food exports. They participated in the Global Halal Brazil (GHB) Business Forum earlier this week in the city of São Paulo. The project has also brought journalists to the country to promote the industry’s image.
The visit to the headquarters of JBS in took place on Thursday (26)’s afternoon. The group of buyers and journalists was welcomed by Marcelo Siegmann, export director of Seara Alimentos.
He said that the market of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has two manufacturing plants of Seara, one in the UAE and the other in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and a third one is being built in Jeddah, also in Saudi Arabia. There are also distribution centers in Qatar, the UAE, and Bahrain, and these sites employ 1,100 employees in the region.
All poultry products by Seara sold in the MENA region are 100% halal. But the region is not the only one that Seara sells is halal products to. “Halal isn’t only about the Middle East. We’re the leading exporter to Europe, and most orders are of halal chicken. We also sell halal to China and Japan,” said Siegmann.
According to the director, Brazil exports 30% of total poultry production, while Seara exports 70% of its production.
Siegmann’s lecture was followed by a presentation and a visit to the facilities of Instituto J&F in the company’s headquarters. The institute provides basic and professional education for free, including business, technology and veterinary schools and feature 1,078 students.
Read more about the GHB Business Forum.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
