Dubai – Company Aqua Amazon is launching its 500 ml Amazon mineral water bottles at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce stand in Dubai food industry show Gulfood, which kicked off this Sunday (16). Royal Queen Açaí is also coming out with a new product at the stand – açaí with date bits and date syrup.
Aqua Amazon director Adalberto Martins (pictured above) told ANBA that his water will only sell on international markets. He picked Gulfood for the launch because the UAE are the number one country in bottled water consumption. Aqua Amazon gets its water from a spring in Presidente Figueiredo, Amazonas – a place known for its waterfalls.
“We are authorized by the Ministry of Mines and Energy to explore mineral water,” said Martins. The brand already has a distributor in place in the UAE, and sales are expected to begin by May. “We’re just waiting for the Emirates Quality Mark (EQM); without this label we can’t sell here,” he explained. The EQM attests that goods comply with UAE rules and are made under efficient quality control systems.
Martins said that by joining the trade show, he hopes to find distributors in all Arab countries and make his brand known. The company puts out 6 million 500 ml water bottles a month.
Royal Queen Açaí is also getting launched at Gulfood. “It’s a product that merges both cultures. It contains Açaí Amazonas, from Pará, Brazil, and Al Foah dates, from the UAE,” says Royal Queen Açaí director and founder Julia de Biase, who represents Al Foah in Brazil. “The dates get shipped do Brazil and the product gets manufactured in São Paulo. It’s sugar-free, fat-free and vegan,” she explains.
Although the product isn’t sold in Brazil yet, Julia plans on selling both locally and in the Arab countries. “A few supermarkets are already interested. I want to introduce Brazilians to dates – a fruit that’s available in virtually every Arab country. I hope to get into each household and create a new market trend,” she said.
On the first day of Gulfood, Julia said Arab visitors were surprised with the new product. “I hope to conquer more and more of this market with our Brazilian culture. The trade show is a bridge; if I succeed in building a global açaí market, then I’ll need to get more dates from the UAE in order to make my açaí, so this creates a two-way trade that’s a win-win situation,” she said.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
