São Paulo – To expand sales of Brazilian organic products abroad, the Organics Brazil project target for this year is to diversify markets. Among the target countries is the United Arab Emirates, which imports food and personal hygiene products from Brazil.
"The Arab market is a new market. We are still evaluating the public that really buys organic products in the region, if it is the Arabs or the foreigners who live there," stated the executive coordinator of the project, Ming Lui. According to him, last year, a team was in Dubai prospecting the emirate and this year the idea is to participate in fairs in the region.
Currently the Brazilian organic products most shipped to the Emirates are coffee and sugar. According to Lui, the main company that imports organics in the Emirates is Organic Foods & Cafe, which not only distributes the products to large supermarket chains but also has its own shop. "Organic Foods & Cafe is a gateway for organic products into the Emirates," said the coordinator.
According to him, the next step of Organics Brazil in the Emirates is also to offer organic textiles and cosmetics. Some of the Brazilian companies that already export to the Arab country are Native, in the food sector, Florestas, a maker of cosmetics, Cassiopeia, of cleaning and personal hygiene products, Cia. Orgânica, in the coffee sector, and Cia. Mogi, of instant coffee.
The number of Brazilian organic companies that already export to the Arab market is small, but since the beginning of the Organics Brazil project, which began in 2005, the number of export companies in the sector has grown more than fivefold, rising from 12 to 62 last year. The volume of business closed reached US$ 58 million in 2008.
The main import markets for Brazilian organic products are the United States, Europe and Canada. In all, the companies in the Organics Brazil export to 70 countries. According to Lui, perspectives for 2009 are positive. "Despite the crisis, the demand is going to continue," he said.
According to him, Brazil is still one of the great suppliers of organic raw material for food chains, cosmetics, fashion and also processed products that are known for their quality and image of "organics by nature".
The project
The Organics Brazil Project arose to promote Brazilian organic products on the international market, bringing together companies and producers around a unique brand and taking the image of the country as an important promoter of the sector. It is the result of joint action of the Institute of Promotion of Development (IPD), of the Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná (Fiep) and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex).
*Translated by Mark Ament
