São Paulo – Sweets and Snacks Middle East, the exhibition taking place from October 27th to 29th in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, will feature 12 Brazilian companies. Eight of them are candy makers and four are biscuits manufacturers. The latter are going to the event for the first time.
“The UAE are a major local hub, hence the importance of going to the fair so we can break into new markets,” says Rodrigo Iglesias, the manager of Happy Goods, a foreign sales promotion partnership project of the Brazilian Association of Manufacturers of Biscuits, Pasta and Industrialized Breads & Cakes (Abimapi) and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
Iglesias explains that the UAE are one of the secondary target markets of the Happy Goods project. Unlike the priority targets, where the national industry has secured a strong foothold, the secondary ones are those where sales of Brazilian products are not strong, but which companies are interested in selling more to. “These are markets our companies do not sell significant volumes to, ones where their positions need improving,” Iglesias says.
According to the Happy Goods manager, this first time at the expo “will be an important experience to determine whether the event will become a staple in the [project’s] events calendar,” Iglesias explains.
The Happy Goods companies whose attendance has been confirmed are Bauducco, Marilan and Hathor. The former two already sell to Middle East countries. “Their goal is to cement their relationships with local buyers. This is a second chance, after the Gulfood, to talk to business partners in the region,” Iglesias says, referring to the food fair held in February in Dubai. The fourth company to attend hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Hathor, for its part, wants to start selling to the Arab countries. “Hathor is looking to carve out a niche for its healthy products. The goal is to supply healthier goods such as granola and morning cereals,” Iglesias says regarding the company that’s set to attend the event with its Da Magrinha and Granó brands.
At this time, the industry’s top-selling products to Arab countries are wafers. Brazil also exports regular and sandwich cookies and industrialized cakes to the region.
In the first half of this year, the 38 companies in the Happy Goods project exported some US$ 51 million to countries around the world. Sales to Arab countries fetched US$ 982,500. The leading buying countries in the region were Yemen (US$ 243,500), Palestine (US$ 211,200), Algeria (US$ 138,600), Saudi Arabia (127,600), Morocco (US$ 96,900) and the United Arab Emirates (US$ 80,500). “Certainly by the end of September we will have exceeded US$ 1 million, and by the end of the year we hope to have grossed US$ 1.5 million from exports to Arabs,” Iglesias forecasts.
Confectionery
The stand of the Sweet Brasil project, a partnership between the Brazilian Chocolate, Cocoa, Peanuts, Candy and Related Products Industry Association (Abicab) and Apex-Brasil, will feature the companies Docile, Dori, Jazam, Montevérgine, Peccin, Riclan, Simas and Toffano.
“Brazil is investing more and more in quality and in having a competitive edge,” says Abicab Export manager Rodrigo Solano about the products the companies are taking to Sweets and Snacks. Solano claims manufacturers are betting on single origin chocolates (made from cocoa grown in specific regions) and hard candy with exclusive flavors, among other features designed to set the national products apart.
And the numbers show that the work is bearing fruit. “By August, the project’s companies sold US$ 93.5 million to foreign countries, up 10.2% from a year ago,” Solano reveals.
Algeria, the top Arab buyer, ranks tenth on the list of importers of Brazilian confectionery. From January to August this year, the North African country imported US$ 2.7 million worth of Brazilian confectionery, up 371% from a year ago.
After Algeria, the leading Arab buyers of Brazilian candy are Yemen, the UAE, Egypt and Iraq. Solano believes that going to the exhibition in Dubai is a chance of exposure to several buyers from across the region.
“Our work via Dubai reflects on other Arab countries. There is a very important focus on the Arab world [on the part of Brazilian companies]. Almost all companies translate their flavors into Arabic,” Solano claims.
In 2014, Sweet Brasil took seven companies to the Dubai fair. During the event, they closed a combined US$ 420,000 in deals, with additional sales worth US$ 2.2 million expected in the ensuing 12 months. “It’s worth noting that by far, the Middle East fairs are the busiest, the ones where there’s the most interest in our products,” the executive asserts. Presently, there are 34 companies affiliated with the Sweet Brasil project.
Sweets and Snacks Middle East
October 27th to 29th
Dubai World Trade Centre (2nd Zaabel Road, D 73 Rd, Al Saada St), United Arab Emirates
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
