São Paulo – Brazilian fruit exporters interested in selling to the Arab countries are negotiating with companies based in Oman and the United Arab Emirates that attended business roundtables this Tuesday (28th) at the Fruit & Tech fair in São Paulo. The event will end on Wednesday.
Companies Abdul Fatah Mohd Noor Co., from Oman, and Interworld Foods, from the Emirates, belong to the same group and are negotiating together during the fair. According to Shanavaz Ahmed, the general manager of the Omani company, both companies already have six Brazilian suppliers and are seeking new partners.
Arab importers already buy apples, oranges and lemons from Brazil. "We are seeking new suppliers of those and other products, such as pineapple and papaya," says Ahmed. However, he points out obstacles such as the long time required for the goods to be transported to the Middle East. "The ship takes from 27 to 35 days, and many tropical fruits do not resist that long."
The Omani company purchases approximately 2,500 tonnes of fruit and vegetables from Brazil each year, all of which are sold on the domestic market.
Tharak Muhammed, the director of Interworld, claims that his company is interested in other varieties of fruit, such as grapes, plums, peaches, avocadoes and cherries. The Emirati company imports 3,000 to 3,500 tonnes of food per year from Brazil, including fruit, vegetables, beef, poultry and eggs.
"We re-export from the Emirates to markets such as Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. We have a mix of foods from different origins that are centralized in Dubai and re-exported on a daily basis," he says. In addition to importing and reselling the foodstuffs, the enterprise also repacks and distributes bovine meat, lamb meat, whole chickens and chicken parts. The companies post annual revenues of US$ 28.8 million.
Luiz Gabriel Borges, the sales manager of the Estiva Strawberry Growers Association, in the state of Minas Gerais, stated that the Arabs showed interest in purchasing organic strawberries. "There is still no supply whatsoever [of organic strawberries] in their country. This was our first contact. Everything leads us to believe that we are going to make good deals," he says.
According to the executive, together, the two companies have a weekly demand for five tonnes of the fruit. He believes that deals may be closed starting with the next crop, in May 2011.
Rogério Nascimento, a representative of trading company BC Trad, also based in Minas Gerais, claims that the Arabs became interested in fruit pulp, sugar and coffee. The company offers grapes, passion fruit, peach, mango, assai and guarana pulp for making juice. "We have committed to sending them our price list so they may compare our prices. At another time, we will submit the samples." The trading company already exports to countries in Europe, Central America and Japan.
David Ferreira Jr., the director of fruit farming consultancy firm DF Skill, based in the city of Itapetininga, in the state of São Paulo, informed that the Arabs are interested in buying oranges and lemons of the Tahiti variety. "We have these products available all year," he says. "Their weekly demand from July to September is for 46 tonnes a week," he claims.
The executive explains that his company works with 30 farmers and is perfectly able to meet the demand from the two enterprises. According to him, price quotations will be submitted to the Arab companies and deals are expected to be closed before the year ends.
Fruit & Tech
The Fuit & Tech fair is currently in its second edition. This year, the event features 100 exhibitors of fruit, vegetables and their by-products, and is expecting up to 4,000 visitors. Located in the yellow pavilion of the Expo Center Norte exhibition centre, the fair occupies a space of 3,000 square metres. The event’s international business roundtables featured importers from Russia, Spain, Germany, Italy, the United States, Argentina and South Africa, plus the importers from the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
