São Paulo – Company Interworld Foods L.L.C., headquartered in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, wants to gain better knowledge of Brazilian fruit production, particularly grapes, in order to increase imports. The director of the company, Abdul Rahiman, is in the city of São Paulo attending Fruit & Log, a trade fair for the fruit and vegetable industry that started yesterday (8th) and continues until tomorrow (10th), at Expo Center Norte. Rahiman also represents company Abdul Fatah Mohd. Noor Co. L.L.C, based in Oman. The two enterprises operate with food imports, exports and processing.
“I want to gain better knowledge of Brazilian products, such as grapes, and to check the quality, the pricing,” said Rahiman in an interview to ANBA. The companies that Rahiman represents already import Brazilian fruit such as orange, apple and lemon. According to the executive, some 300 tonnes are purchased each season. In total – not only from Brazil –, the companies buy roughly 40 containers of vegetables and fruit each month. Today (9th), another importer from the Arab country should arrive in São Paulo to attend Fruit & Log. Also participating in the fair is journalist M. Matthews Matthew, of Emirates-based website Gulf Agriculture.
The Arab market was one of the subjects of the seminar held yesterday at the fair. According to figures presented during the seminar by the secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, last year the Arab market imported US$ 16.12 million in Brazilian fruit. There was growth of 16% over the previous year. According to the secretary general, the figure is still low, given that the Arab market has potential to import much more. “But sales are growing,” he claims. Alaby says that sales to the region are still very much focused on oranges and tangerines.
To that end, the two Arab importers who were invited to the fair, as part of the Buyer Project promoted by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and the Brazilian Fruit Institute (Ibraf) are going to take part in business roundtables lasting until Thursday. The Buyer Project brings buyers from other countries for business meetings with Brazilian suppliers. Aside from the Arabs, also participating are importers from 11 other countries, such as Germany, Russia, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. The Arab Brazilian Chamber is a partner in the initiative.
Alaby claims that the Arab market could buy other fruit from Brazil, such as papaya, pineapple and passion fruit. In order to export certain types of Brazilian fruit, such as the tropical ones, however, market promotion work will be required, as there is no habit of consuming them in the region, he underscores. The financial director of the Ibraf, Jean Paul Gayel, also believes that there is a strong potential for Brazilian fruit sales to the Arab world. He mentions Dubai, where, according to him, next to everything is consumed when it comes to fruit varieties.
According to Gayel, however, there is a logistical problem facing Brazilian fruit exports to the Arab world. He explains that the cost of air transport is not always worthwhile, and that the Middle Eastern ports, in the case of sea shipments, are congested with vessels. The fact that fruit is perishable does not allow it to lie waiting inside the vessel until port space is freed up. Thus, Gayel believes that there is a better chance of selling longer-lasting products to the region, such as apples, for instance.
Last year, Brazil exported a total of US$ 724 million in fresh fruit. There was growth of 12% over 2007, when the sector obtained US$ 642 million in revenues from foreign sales. Out of the total Brazilian fruit production, 53% is sold processed, according to data presented by Gayel. The remaining 43% is sold raw. The chairman of the Ibraf, Moacyr Saraiva Fernandes, believes that Brazil has a great opportunity for increasing its fruit production and exports. The country is the third largest fruit producer in the world.
“We have the soil, the weather conditions, we produce fruit typical of temperate weather, tropical weather, citric fruit, equatorial fruit,” he said at the opening of Fruit & Log. According to Fernandes, Brazil has 500 plants catalogued that bear fruit. Many of them – approximately 300 – are located in the Amazon region, and the vast majority is not even known to Brazilians. He claims that Fruit & Log, currently at its first edition, was promoted in order to attract importers to Brazil, because Brazilian participation in foreign fairs is very expensive. Fruit & Log is promoted by Francal Feiras with the partnership of the Ibraf.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
