Abu Dhabi – Trading company ALM Brazil, of Rio de Janeiro, struck a yearlong deal to sell one shipping container’s worth of black pepper a month to the UAE. It has also sold a container of coffee, cashew nut and Brazil nut to another importer in the Arab country. The deals were closed between the first and the morning of the second day of SIAL Middle East. The food industry expo in Abu Dhabi includes a Brazilian pavilion organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply and featuring 14 companies.
ALM Brazil’s CEO Marlucia Martire (pictured at the beginning of this article) explains that the pepper to be sold comes from the state of Espírito Santo, and that the price of Brazilian product is competitive in the UAE. Marlucia was expecting a third deal to go through with another Middle East importer this Tuesday (11). She says most sales come from referrals. “People will buy through word-of-mouth. It’s a matter of trust,” she said. Marlucia believes the deals are also the result of long-term actions – ALM Brazil has been working on the region’s market since 2010. “I’m very happy with the trade show,” she says.
Also pleased with the turnout at the expo this Tuesday was Finoagro, the mango- and grape-producing of conglomerate Vicunha. The company owns farms in Petrolina, Pernambuco and in Vale do Açu, Rio Grande do Norte. Operations manager Fernando Max Aquino relates that Finoagro is primarily an exporting company. It has been selling mango to the Middle East for four years now. They are at the show looking for new buyers and seeking expansion in the region. Aquino claims he made three good contacts with enterprises in the UAE, Bahrain and Russia. “I’ve already achieved my goal,” he says.
Another Brazilian exhibiting company is Cory, which deals in hard candy, cough drops, biscuits and wafers that come in a wide range of flavors and variations. It has manufacturing units in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo and in Arceburgo, Minas Gerais. According to export manager Arthur Jorge Millen, the company already sells in Arab countries – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen and Oman. By early afternoon on the second day of SIAL Middle East, he had gotten in touch with importers from Egypt, Oman and the UAE.
Minerva, the leading beef exporting company in South America, also has a stand at the Abu Dhabi expo. Its Lebanon sales manager Bassam Karanouh said the company is at the expo to seek new opportunities as well as meet up with its clients. The Middle East is one of the premier foreign markets for Minerva.
The Brazilian space is attracting attention at SIAL Middle East. It was very busy during the show’s first two days. The product mix available in the pavilion as a whole is very comprehensive, with items including meats, açaí, propolis, fruits, sweets, beans, seeds, food-making machinery, etc. Brazil is a major supplier of food products to the UAE.
The Brazilian pavilion was launched on Monday (10) by UAE deputy prime minister Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in the presence of Brazil’s ambassador to the UAE, Fernando Luís Lemos Igreja. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce support the Brazilian participation in SIAL Middle East. The Chamber’s international business executive Fernanda Baltazar is at the show. The Brazilian participation is led by the Agriculture Ministry’s Foreign Investment and Cooperation general coordinator Rodrigo da Matta.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
