São Paulo – Taking its cue from the FIFA World Cup, Kuwait’s Sultan Center supermarket chain has opened the Brazilian Week this Tuesday (3rd). The event is a promotional action featuring Brazilian products at the store located in Kuwait City’s Salmiya district.
According to the CEO of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, who attended the opening ceremony, the supermarket chain’s Purchasing and Import director, Makram Malaeb, said the retailer is planning on importing more product from Brazil.
During the Brazilian Week, 150 products from the country will be on display. According to Alaby, Malaeb said that there may be 200 products in the future. He listed guaraná soft drink cans and assai juice as widely accepted items. The Arab Chamber CEO said 25 12-packs of Guaraná Antarctica were sold within the first hour of promotion.
Malaeb said the idea of hosting the festival came up two years ago, when he paid a visit to Brazil at the Arab Chamber’s invite. The executive said, according to Alaby, that the country is known for its product quality and competitive pricing.
Apart from Kuwait, the chain owns stores in Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Lebanon. The company imports goods from approximately 50 different countries.
Alaby also spoke at the opening ceremony, and stated that the event is “paving the way for similar promotions in other Arab countries.”
The opening was attended by the deputy director-general of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hamad Al Omar, the diplomats Jaçanã Ribeiro and Patrícia Oliveira, from the Brazilian embassy in Kuwait, the manager of the business centre of the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) in Dubai, Sidney Costa, the Arab chamber Marketing coordinator, Karina Cassapula, and diplomats from embassies in Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Nicaragua, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
According to Alaby, approximately 100 people attended the opening ceremony, 20 of whom were Brazilians residing in the Arab country. The Brazilian Week will continue until June 16th.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
