São Paulo – Brigadeiro chocolates, Brazilian fruit caramels and chocolate made from organic cocoa from the Amazon are among the bets of national confectionery industries, which are focusing on typical Brazilian flavours to sell more on the foreign market. The new flavours are the result of a demand identified in major international fairs in the sector, where buyers have shown interest in different products from those made in Europe.
The survey was conducted by the Brazilian Cocoa and Confectionery Manufacturers Association (Abicab) at the Gulfood fair, in the United Arab Emirates, ISM, in Germany, and Sweets & Snacks in the United States. The preferences of the Arab public were identified both at the fair in the Middle East and at the one in Europe. "At ISM, a significant portion of the public is Arab," says the Abicab export manager, Rodrigo Solano.
"The Arabs have a natural interest in Brazil, and they were specifically seeking the different products that Brazil has to offer. Any unique product has a chance in these markets," says the manager at Abicab. He points out that Saudi Arabia is one of the priority destinations for Brazilian exports in the sweet sector.
Solano pointed out that, for next year, there will be a series of promotional activities to show typical products made in Brazil. "We will have unique participation in ISM, to be continued at Gulfood and then in the United States, and we will have projects during the World Cup. We will reward distributors of Brazilian products abroad by bringing them to the World Cup," he says.
The Sweet Brazil project, conducted by Abicab in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) to foster the sector’s exports, will also be granted a new face. "We are developing an international website that will have versions in English, Spanish and Arabic. Firms from abroad may have access to the profile of our associates, industry information and also to recipes. We are going to create a broad interface for the international public. Releases will be on the first page," said Solano.
Fruit Taste
One of the companies already devoted to developing sweets with typical Brazilian tastes is Embaré, from Minas Gerais. A manufacturer of milk caramels, the company has decided to invest in new flavours.
"We have launched a range of seven flavours and have 15 to 20 flavours being tested," says Felipe Antunes, Export analyst. The new flavours that have already been developed are with popular Brazilian fruit, like watermelon, tangerine, melon, banana, pineapple, mango and raspberry. "We are also developing the assai caramel, which is a ‘must’ for the Brazilian market, and papaya," he said.
The first sale of the new flavours went to Russia. According to the analyst, Embaré sells half of its caramel production to some 50 countries. In 2012, Brazilian sweet sector exports totalled US$ 335.8 million, for a total of 116 tons of products sold abroad.
*Translated by Mark Ament
