São Paulo – Although far from prevalent, products from Arab countries can be found in South America’s biggest fruit, vegetable, flower and seafood supply center, São Paulo’s Ceagesp.
Representatives from Arab food exporting firms visited the Ceagesp’s facilities on Wednesday (15). Executives and businesspeople from these companies are in Brazil exhibiting at the APAS Show in an area organized by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), which is also holding appointments for the group to learn about the wholesale and retail market in Brazil.
During their visit to the Ceagesp’s facilities, where products are sold at wholesale, and on certain days of the week in retail, too, the Arabs found some foods from their countries, like dates from Tunisia and oranges from Egypt. Boxes of dates by Nouri, a company participating in the delegation, were being showcased. The group also had the opporunity to see their competitors.
The head of economy and development at Ceagesp, Tiago de Oliveira, says Egypt usually ranks third or even second in citrus imported by Ceagesp. He says Egyptian products cover Brazil’s offseason in the first half of the year but have become popular and demanded by consumers in other periods, too.
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Opportunities for Arab products
Oliveira says there are more opportunities for Arab products at Ceagesp if they can provide quality and price, the latter including shipping. He points that some six years ago, Egypt’s citrus didn’t even figure in the imports ranking. Oliveira believes that more networking is needed for the Arabs to supply more products. It is not Ceagesp itself that buys the products, but companies owning booths in the facilities.
The representatives from Arab companies were welcomed by Ceagesp CEO Jamil Yatim and watched a presentation on the supply center, then they visited the facilities and talked to local retailers. The group was accompanied by a group of ABCC’s workers led by its head of international consulting, Karen Mizuta. Tunisia’s Export Promotion Center (CEPEX) director Raoudha Jerbi Abbes participated, too. The delegation also visited wholesaler Atacadão and supermarket Zaffari.
Besides the supply center in the neighborhood of Vila Leopoldina in São Paulo city, there are other 12 centers across the state. According to Ceagesp, in 2023 over 3 million tonnes were sold in the São Paulo center, up 2.6% from the previous year.
Most sales were of fruits, with over 50%, followed by vegetables. The top-selling product volume-wise were oranges, followed by potatoes, tomatoes, apples, limes, papayas, onions, watermelons, mangoes, and pineapples. Besides Brazilian products, which dominate sales, 26 countries supply Ceagesp, too.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
