São Paulo – Brazilian coffee company Ortelan Café is showcasing its coffee and pepper products at the Algiers International Fair, which kicked off this Tuesday (18) and will continue until next Sunday (23) in Algeria. Brazilian participation in the fair is organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Embassy of Brazil in Algiers.
Ortelan Café is based in Vila Valério, Espírito Santo. It sells Robusta coffee and black pepper to process industries in Brazil and abroad – especially Middle East countries. According to NA Coffee & Pepper Broker owner Nadia Abdallah (pictured above), who’s representing Ortelan Café at the fair, the company has made sales to Algeria, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, etc.
“Algeria is a major coffee and black pepper buyer in the Middle East,” said Nadia over the phone. She also said that last year, her company made a big sale to Algeria, so she decided to join the Algiers International Fair in order to find other similar importers.
Nadia claims that despite Algeria’s potential as a coffee and pepper importer, doing business with Brazil is not customary there. According to her, Algerians will usually buy Brazilian items via Europe, which they are better used to doing. She notes that Algeria is the second-biggest market in North Africa.
Arab Chamber staff are present at the Algiers fair, to let walk-in visitors know about Brazil’s potential as a supplier. Besides president Rubens Hannun, the Chamber’s CEO Tamer Mansour, institutional relations manager Fernanda Baltazar and events coordinator Tâmara Machado were at the event this Tuesday.
Algeria’s president Abdelkader Bensalah, who visited the Brazilian area, kicked off the fair. He was welcomed by Rubens Hannun and by Brazil’s ambassador to Algeria, Flávio Marega. Bensalah became interim president after Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who’d spent 20 years in power, stepped down.
Hannun claims Brazil must be present throughout Algeria’s transition, and attentive to the opportunities that will come up. according to him, the market is very interesting to Brazil. “Algeria is undergoing a change of government and many opportunities are coming up. We need to be present and detecting those opportunities,” he told ANBA over the phone from Algiers.
Accompanied by Tamer Mansour and Fernanda Baltazar, Hannun attended meetings on Monday and Tuesday at the National Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Trade (Algex); the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CACI); with the Brazilian ambassador; and with Brazilian companies’ reps in the country. At Algex, they were welcomed by secretary general Hocine Boubtina and by cooperation and documentation director Aissa Zechmatt. At CACI, they with ere welcomed by secretary general Abdelhak Bezahi.
Hannun was very enthusiastic about the possibilities that arose during the meetings. According to him, it was noticeable how open, welcoming and interested the Algerians were in furthering trade with Brazil. Talks with CACI involved streamlining its agreement with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce – which covers the sharing of information and other affairs.
The Algerians expressed an interest in making the Brazil-Algeria Business Council more dynamic; having business delegations travel to Brazil and joining events there, like the Anufood expo; the 2020 Brazil-Arab Countries Economic Forum; and the logistics forum which the Arab Brazilian Chamber and the Union of Arab Chambers are hosting next December in Egypt.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
