São Paulo – Dália Alimentos, a food cooperative from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, is exporting pork to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and plans on expanding its operations on the Arab market. Dália Alimentos is the commercial and brand name of Cooperativa dos Suinocultores de Encantado, located in the municipality of Encantado. The cooperative produces pork and pork products such as ham, salami and pâté, as well as long life milk, powdered milk, chocolate milk and cream.
The cooperative’s Export supervisor Márcia Daltoé explains that the product shipped to Egypt goes to stores specializing in pork. Consumption of this meat variety is prohibited to Muslims. However, there are Christians living in Egypt, as well as in other Arab countries such as Lebanon and Syria. According to Daltoé, pork can be sold in Egypt at specialized commercial establishments with proper signalling, like the Christian-owned shop that sells Dália Alimentos’ products.
Sales to Egypt began in 2009, when the local government culled a sizeable portion of the country’s pigs as a precaution against A-type flu, aka swine flu, caused by the H1N1 virus – an action the United Nations deemed a mistake at the time. In seeking out new suppliers, the Egyptian merchant contacted Dália, visited the cooperative’s facilities in Brazil and specified which cuts would be shipped to Egypt, as per the country’s legal requirements. In his trip, he was accompanied by a sanitation professional who inspected the manufacturing process.
The Egyptian businessman who sells Dália products owns several stores in Cairo, according to the cooperative’s Export supervisor. Daltoé claims the cooperative wants to expand on the Egyptian market, but due to political instability in the country, sales were subpar this year, amounting to four containers. The target was eight. The supervisor, however, believes sales to Egypt and the Arab market will increase in the future.
Dália had shipped product to the United Arab Emirates eight years ago and is back to selling this year, says Daltoé. The deals are brokered by a trading company, so the cooperative is unable to provide much detail regarding the final destination of the products, which are also pork-based. The supervisor remarks, however, that Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, is home to a large foreign population, in addition to receiving tourists and business travellers. “There is a certain demand from non-locals,” she says.
Apart from Egypt and the Emirates, the cooperative serves other foreign markets, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Eastern European countries like Armenia and Moldova, Angola, Mozambique and the Republic of the Congo. Dália exports 10% to 12% of its production. The company ships pork cuts, carcasses and offal abroad. It also plans on exporting powdered milk and has obtain official authorization to this end. Dália is seeking new deals, but should take some time before actually exporting powdered milk, since the product’s foreign prices are very low at this time.
Large-sized
Dália Alimentos slaughters 2,700 hogs per day and receives 1.1 million litres of milk for processing at its plants. The cooperative owns three plants. The headquarters and the slaughterhouse, which also handle processing, are located in the Encantado municipality. The neighbouring city Arroio do Meio is home to two plants, one for UHT milk and cream, and the other for powdered milk, UHT, cream and chocolate milk. The latter should specialize in other types of flavoured milk.
According to Daltoé, a few months from now, Dália will start building a poultry plant comprising an egg incubator, animal feed manufacturing facilities and a chicken slaughter facility. The plant’s site is yet to be defined. The cooperative also owns two supermarkets, one in Encantado and another in Arroio do Meio, which serve employees, members and the community.
Dália has 4,111 members and 2,202 employees. The cooperative works in partnership with its members and supervises the entire production process. For pork production, Dália provides hogs, feed and technical assistance to the raisers. The cooperative works with pork raisers in Encantado and vicinities, covering a 180-kilometre radius around the municipality. The cooperative exists since 1947.
Contact:
Dália Alimentos
Website: www.dalia.com.br
Telephone: +55 (51) 3751-9000
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
