São Paulo – Coffee producers from Cerrado Mineiro will welcome Arab buyers this week. They include representatives of companies from Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The region is the only one in Brazil to get the Designation of Origin (D. O.) seal for its coffee, given by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). The denomination is one of the categories of Geographical Indication, which guarantees the product’s origin, traits and quality.
The visit is part of the Buyers Mission organized by the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). The participant company from Egypt is Al Fayrouz For Trade; from Jordan, Brazilian Coffee House; and from the UAE, Cypher Roastery.
The Cerrado Coffee Growers Federation, institution responsible for controlling the D.O. seal, worked with Apex in examining the applicating companies. The criteria followed for selecting buyers included communication of the coffee’s origin to the final consumers, as well as relevance, buying potential and the quality standards the traders are searching for.
Tour through the coffee farms
The tour will run from September 10 to 14, passing by crops in the towns of Araguari, Patrocínio, Monte Carmelo, and Carmo do Paraíba. Visitors will learn about the different phases and processes of the coffee production, from the crop to the cup. The buyers will get a close look on the work of planting, harvest, drying, and quality control, ending with a cupping.
Besides getting to know big and small producers, the Arabs will meet Brazilian exporters, roasters and industries. For this, the tour includes technical visits to retail. The Brazilians intend to show the buyers the know-how and technology used to arrive at the Brazilian special coffee.
The Cerrado Mineiro region has 4,500 producers and the average production is 5 million 60-Kg bags per year. Aside from the buyers from the Middle East and North Africa region, traders from North America, Eurasia and Europe will also take part in the mission.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
