São Paulo – Alzaeem Deputy General Manager Redha Salman was in Brazil last week for business meetings with potential Brazilian suppliers during the Halal do Brasil project’s business matchmaking event. He told ANBA the company aims to buy fresh chicken.
Salman previously sought suppliers in Brazil in 2016, but no deals came of it. This time, he hopes for a different outcome.
“We import 45 containers a month of chicken cuts weighing 800 grams to 1.3 kilograms. Prices are good, but prices change a lot,” he said.
Salman needs to buy fresh frozen chicken to process at Al Salwa Meat Factory plants in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The company also serves the United Arab Emirates and Iraq and plans to enter North African markets. Its products are sold to retailers under the Alzaeem brand.
“Large Brazilian companies sell chicken in the Middle East, but they are still seen as international companies. My brand is seen as local,” he said of the competition.
Alzaeem’s plants produce chicken breast, diced chicken and seasoned chicken wings, among other products.
The company’s main chicken suppliers are currently in Russia and Ukraine. If Brazilian suppliers are competitive, he said, he could do business with them, as he liked the quality of their products.
Salman was part of a delegation of six representatives from Arab food companies who visited Brazil at the invitation of the Halal do Brasil Project, which promotes Brazilian-made products fit for Muslim consumption abroad. The project is run by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC). During their visit, the Arab importers met with Brazilian food companies, visited food plants in Paraná and attended the Brazil & Arab Countries Economic Forum, held by the ABCC on August 25.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
