São Paulo – From his booth at the APAS Show supermarket trade fair in São Paulo, executive Amr Ali says he is close to closing frozen strawberry sales with three Brazilian companies. A few meters away, also exhibiting at the event, Mohamed Ahmed Habib describes advanced-stage talks to begin shipping frozen potatoes to Brazil, while Tarek Rabai says he believes containers of dates will be headed to the Brazilian market after the fair. The three represent Egyptian companies exhibiting at APAS Show in a space organized by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC).
Impressed by the scale and turnout of the event, Amr Ali, CEO of El Sheik Group, said the company began exporting frozen strawberries to Brazil this year after exhibiting at another trade fair in São Paulo, Anuga Select Brazil. Two days into APAS Show, El Sheik Group was already moving toward expanding its sales in the country, with 90% of the work done to close two to three new deals. Ali says Brazil’s frozen strawberry market is excellent.
According to Ali, the Egyptian group entered the frozen fruit and vegetable business at the beginning of the last decade and started exporting in 2019. The CEO said a strategy focused on safe products, competitive prices and quality helped the company become the largest exporter of frozen fruits and vegetables to Russia in 2020. El Sheik Group’s frozen foods—ranging from strawberries and apricots to mangoes and cauliflower—are exported to China, Europe and other markets, in addition to Russia and Brazil.
Mohamed Ahmed Habib, meanwhile, is representing the Helmond Pomme Frites brand at APAS Show. The brand belongs to Egyptian retail group Fathalla Group and is making its first move into the Brazilian market at the fair. The group recently launched its French fries and potato products business and already supplies European countries, Cuba, Venezuela, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Armenia. It is now moving toward supplying Brazil. “It should become our main target because you have a large population and huge demand for potato products that even your local production cannot meet,” says Habib.
Helmond is open to several business possibilities with Brazilian companies, including supplying its own brand and private-label products. Habib says Brazil’s low market prices for such products are challenging, but Helmond offers potatoes for different consumer segments and price ranges. He said successful meetings were held at APAS and only a few adjustments are needed to finalize orders. “We are at a very advanced stage,” he told ANBA.
At the booth of date producer Fenti, Tarek Rabai was also enthusiastic about the company’s performance at APAS Show. Rabai is a Sales and marketing consultant at Acelya Trading, based in the UAE and owner of the Egyptian company Fenti. The consultant believes the shortage of medjool dates, which sold out during the last Ramadan, favors the entry of its products into Brazil. “We have stock, this is a good opportunity for us,” Rabai told ANBA. Speaking on the second day of APAS, he said he made serious, promising contacts at the event and believes he will sell a few containers.
Fenti dates are already exported to markets such as Turkey, Bangladesh, Russia and Indonesia. Emphasizing Brazil’s size as a consumer market, Rabai says this is the company’s first time participating in APAS Show. “It’s really impressive,” he says of the trade fair. “The turnout is excellent, the quality of visitors is very good. For a first year, the impression is very positive, and we are planning to return next year. We want to become a permanent part of this project,” he said. He is promoting the dates at the Brazilian event alongside Fenti Export Manager Mai Mohammed.
In addition to El Sheikh Group, Helmond and Fenti, other companies from Egypt as well as firms from Tunisia and Syria are exhibiting in the space organized by the ABCC at APAS Show. The exhibition opened on Monday (18) and runs through Thursday (21) at Expo Center Norte.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
