São Paulo – Exporting to the Middle East is among the targets of the Passos Furniture Hub, in the south of Minas Gerais. The group, which includes 140 factories, already sells items all over Brazil and is now getting ready to sell them abroad. For such, the initiative, famous for the articles made out of demolition wood, is investing in training and partnerships with institutions like the National Service of Industrial Education (Senai), the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) and the Bank of Brazil, among others.
"We see the Arab countries with excellent eyes. It is a region of the world in great expansion,” stated Ricardo Andrade, the coordinator of the Passos Furniture Hub, together with businessman Glesson Oliveira Bueno. "We are going to try to participate, still this year, in another fair in the Middle East,” he explained.
In Brazil, the main clients of furniture producers from Passos are the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, followed by those in the Northeast. "We sell much to hotels and inns too,” said Andrade. "Mostly kitchen items, like table and chair sets, as well as furniture for environment like verandas.”
Around 95% of production of Minas is made out of the so-called demolition wood, obtained mainly from houses that were knocked down. "We use solid and resistant material, hardwoods, like peroba rosa (a typical Brazilian hardwood), which are processed and prepared for reuse,” said Andrade. The effect, according to the coordinator of the Hub, is what the client wants, more worked or more rustic. “Some buyers even ask us to leave some paint remains on the articles,” he explained. "That is not to mention the ecological aspect, as we use material that would be disposed of,” said Andrade.
Passos is a city with 110,000 inhabitants, considered the capital of southeastern Minas. The city is located close to the banks of Rio Grande River, in the so-called Tourist Circuit of the Springs of Minas Gerais.
*Translated by Mark Ament
