São Paulo – Açaí-and-date mix launched last February by Royal Queen Açaí is starting to sell in Dubai, UAE. Company owner Julia de Biase said a ton of product got shipped, in 1.3 kg and 3.6 kg packs. The product was purchased by the Brazilian-born, Lebanese-descendant Issam Hassan, with distributing company Bellomassi Foodstuff Trading LLC, which resells Brazilian-made refrigerated items, especially beef and poultry, in Dubai.
At first, the açaí mix will only be sold online, via the Nativo website, which carries a bevy of Brazilian goods in the UAE. “We wanted to bring in a unique product, and we have the opportunity to deliver to people’s doorsteps,” Issam Hassan told ANBA. The açaí-and-date mix is expected to start selling by the end of this week.
The product will be launched via a campaign on social media including Nativo’s Instagram and Facebook pages. “We have many Brazilian items that are very successful with Arab shoppers, particularly pão de queijo,” said Hassan.
Made in São Paulo using açaí from the state of Pará’s Açaí Amazonas and dates from the UAE’s Al Foah, the product is coloring-, sugar- and gluten-free. “We use dates and date honey to sweeten and enhance the açaí. It is important to note that the product is 100% natural, without any chemical additives,” Julia de Biase told ANBA over the phone.
The açaí was flown into Dubai with packaging in English and Arabic, to cater to local shoppers and market requirements. Eventually, once the pandemic is over, the product should be made available at supermarkets and some tourist spots and malls, according to Biase.
She met Hassan at the Gulfood expo last February in Dubai, on which occasion she launched her product. “He was really interested and he believed in the product. Despite the pandemic he believed that this could work out really well. We’re going through a very difficult time around the world, and aside from believing in the product, he believes that people will increasingly seek out things that are good for their health,” she said.
Biase said she’s also in talks with a company in Australia and another in Saudi Arabia that she got in touch with at Gulfood. “It’s a very important fair for doing business, all the more so with a completely new product,” she argued.
She claims the Arab world is always on the lookout for novel healthful items “My product is a departure from what’s on the market, and it’s getting launched in the Arab world even before it’s available in Brazil. This is emblematic, and it goes to show that there’s quality product in Brazil. I want to show them the açaí by way of the date, a fruit they’re well acquainted with,” she said.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
