São Paulo – Four Arab buyers are in a 40-strong delegation of foreigners who were invited by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) to visit the Apas Show, organized by the São Paulo Supermarkets Association (Apas) at Expo Center Norte, in São Paulo, from May 2 to 5. Two Egyptians, one Saudi and one Algerian are sitting down for meetings with Brazilian executives to find good products to bring back to their countries.
The general manager with Hyper One, one of Egypt’s premier supermarket chains, Hesham Yousef is in Brazil for the first time. “We are mostly looking for food products,” he said in an interview with ANBA at the fairgrounds. “Lots of products, to be honest: beef, poultry, fruits, vegetables, biscuits. Any good deal is an opportunity,” he said.
According to Yousef, Hyper One, which is 100% Egyptian-owned, offers 40,000 to 50,000 items from different origins, and it intends to add Brazilian products to its range. “My focus is my market,” he said.
The reach of fellow countryman Waleed Khoshala, who owns the Cairo-based Aigle International Trading, extends beyond Egyptian borders: “I am looking for products for South Sudan, for Congo, and I just got a call from clients in Angola,” he said. “I am looking into what items I can route back to those markets.”
Khoshala has been to Brazil other times – the first one was in 2005, according to him. Since 2014, he has been involved with Apex-Brasil’s Buyer Project, in a bid to find beef and poultry suppliers. “But prices are very high right now,” he complained. This year, since he’s working with new markets, he is also looking for items such as chocolate and juices.
Poultry and beef are also being sought by Dinesh Kochhar, the general operations manager with Al-Berri United Food, in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia – he also imports liquid eggs. Like Khoshala, he has been to Brazil in the past. “My first time was 12 years ago,” he explained.
Kochhar imports and distributes in Saudi Arabia only, and this is his first time joining Apex-Brasil’s Buyer Project. “The good thing is we are not stuck with a schedule: if we wish to speak to someone in any given stand, the people at Apex-Brasil will accompany us,” he said.
By the time they spoke with ANBA, none of the three had closed any deals, although they had sat through some 15 meetings. “I have been to Brazil many times, and I’ll rarely strike a deal during a visit. There is the issue of exchange rate volatility, both here and in Egypt, and I try to do lots of research on the companies and the quality and reliability of their products,” Khoshala explained.
On Thursday morning (4), the Egyptians will visit a manufacturing plant owned by Cory, in the state of São Paulo. They will return to Egypt on Saturday (6). The Saudi executive will extend his stay to visit plants in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul after the trade show. The Arab importers were picked by Apex-Brasil’s office in Dubai, in collaboration with the Brazilian embassies in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Algeria.
The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is also taking part in the Apas Show with exhibition space for Arab items, featuring businesses from the UAE, Qatar, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
