São Paulo – On the first day of the APAS Show 2022, Latin America’s largest supermarket trade show, Arab exhibitors that participate in the two stands of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) expressed confidence and high business expectations. Twenty-six companies came from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia. They are exhibiting products like coffee, olives, raisins, dates, olive oil, Arab pastries, herbs, spices and packaging.
Hamwi, a coffee company from Syria based in Dubai, is an exhibitor. Yassin Al Hamwi is the firm’s Business Development manager and its founder’s grandson. He told ANBA that the company produces all types of coffee, except for capsules. Arab coffee, Turkish coffee, instant coffee, bottled liquid coffee to mix with hot water, canned iced coffee, and the traditional coffee beans and ground coffee. This is the first time the company participates in the Brazilian supermarket show. They aim to start exporting across Latin America. “We are the Middle East and North Africa’s largest coffee manufacturers. We do the roasting, grinding and packaging, and we hope to break into Latin America, starting with Brazil,” Hamwi said.
Their primary focus is selling Turkish coffee, which is largely consumed by the Arab Islamic community in Brazil, as well as canned iced coffee in the original, mocha, vanilla, caramel and almond flavors. Hamwi said that its iced coffee brand is a benchmark in the Middle East and is also sold in Germany, the Netherlands and will soon be sold in the United Kingdom. The other coffee products are sold to 25 countries. “We came to get more familiar with the market and discover your needs,” Hamwi said about the participation in APAS Show. He said that besides their own brand, they also have a plant for private labels. “We can manufacture coffee in the UAE and export it across the region,” he said.
Falcon Pack Export manager Nader Sayed told ANBA that the packaging company based in the UAE exports to 72 countries. Exhibiting at APAS Show for the first time, Sayed hopes to break into South America. The 30-year-old company has 17 plants in the UAE and sells their 3,500 products to the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. Its flagship products are foil containers, foil, plastic wrap, microwave packaging, and paper cups. But the company’s portfolio includes products such as soaps, sanitizers and detergents, too.
“We’ve visited some clients in São Paulo, and we are going to Rio de Janeiro after the show for other meetings. Our distinguishing feature is the lower cost. We hope to break into Brazil and maybe set up a factory here in the future,” Sayed said.
Egypt
Dakahlia is also exhibiting in Brazil for the first time and brought olives and raisins to its booth in the APAS Show. The Egyptian company’s Sales manager Shimaa Raafat told ANBA they also sell dry garlic, Medjool dates, and citrus, and it hopes to break into Latin America and Brazil. “We’re aiming at the supermarkets here in Brazil – we like to work with this sector,” Raafat said. Dakahlia has five factories across Egypt, and it has exported its products to 50 countries.
Opening
The ABCC was present in the opening of the APAS Show, represented by its Marketing & Content director Silvana Gomes, former president Rubens Hannun, director William Atui, and board member and Jordanian honorary consul in São Paulo, Mustapha Abdouni, accompanied by the Jordanian ambassador to Brazil, Maen Mesadeh, and senator Issa Murad. Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro and Economy minister Paulo Guedes talked in the opening ceremony, as well other authorities and leaders of the food industry. Bolsonaro also visited the show.
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Twenty-six Arab companies to exhibit at APAS Show
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
