São Paulo – A group of 300 small producers from the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul formed a nucleus for sustainable and organic development. For eight years they have integrated the Association of Biodynamic Agriculture of the South (Abdsul), through which they traded several organic products like rice, sweets, jelly, fruit pulp, honey and lambs wool.
Last year, the group promoted the first export of organic rice to Germany, after participating in Biofach, the largest business fair in the sector, in the city of Nuremberg, Germany. In February this year they participated in the Biofach once again and this time they closed deals with importers from England and started contact with buyers from Lebanon and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
"Up to now the product that called most attention of foreign buyers was rice. They buy from us in bulk and transform the grain into cereals there, placing it on the market as a breakfast cereal," explained Marcelo Barbosa, vice president at Abdsul.
According to Barbosa, this was the organisation’s second participation in the fair and the first contact with importers from the Middle East. "We hope that the contacts, over thirty at the Biofach, generate future business for all our products," he pointed out. "Throughout 2009, we are going to receive visits by importers from England, Belgium and Italy. All of them having learnt about our products in Germany," he said.
On the domestic market, the association already trades products of associates in several states and has representatives in important capitals like São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis and Belo Horizonte.
Abdsul is part of the Organics Brasil, which is the result of a joint action with the Institute for Promotion of Development of the Federation of Industries of the state of Paraná and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex). The project arose to promote Brazilian organic products on the international market, bringing together companies and producers around a single brand, supplying the most demanding standards of social and environmental adequacy. Participation in international fairs like Biofach is part of the program’s strategy.
Contact
Telephone: (+55 48) 3334-8717
E-mail: marcelo.organicos@gmail.com
*Translated by Mark Ament