São Paulo – A non-alcoholic beverage that is 100% natural. That is the grape juice produced by winery Galiotto, in the city of Flores da Cunha, in the Rio Grande do Sul mountain range. And it is these characteristics that caused the company to bet on the Arab market to start exports of the product.
"We developed some market research and discovered that the acceptance of the juice could be very good among the Arabs, mainly due to the religious matters," stated the administrative representative at the company, Michele Tonet. Islam does not permit the consumption of alcohol, "Furthermore, our juice is very different from the majority on the market. It is fuller and has stronger aroma," she said.
According to her, the brand internationalisation process began in February this year, when the company participated in the Gulfood, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. “Acceptance of the juice was very good, but the price is still something we need to agree on," said Michele.
Over the year, the company also participated in Sial Montreal, in Canada, in May, and in Sial Paris, France, in October. In February 2011, the winery plans to return to the Gulfood, this time aimed at making the first contracts official. "The moment is greatly favourable and this kind of juice is very new, promising great success in the foreign market," she said.
Apart from grape juice, the winery plans to promote its fine wine and fizzy wine lists abroad. "Our fizzy beverages called much attention in Montreal and Paris, as, in the [production] region, we have very favourable climate conditions for production. Today, Brazilian fizzy wines have similar quality to the French ones, though at cheaper prices," she said.
Winery Galiotto was established in 1960, and generates 25 direct jobs, with 10 temporary ones during the crop season and at the end of the year, when production needs to be greater to supply the demand for end of year celebrations. The company produces 6 million litres of table-wine a year, 200,000 litres of fine wine, 200,000 litres of fizzy wine and 350,000 litres of juice. "We can double our juice production. One more reason to open space on the foreign market," said Michele.
On the domestic market, the winery is present in all states.
Origin
The Galiotto family is originally from Arzignano, in the Province of Vicenza, in Veneto, Italy. Romano Galiotto migrated to the northeast of the state of Rio Grande do Sul in 1883, more specifically to Travessão Pinhal, in Colônia Nova Trento, an area that is currently the municipality of Flores da Cunha.
From the primitive colonial canteen, where wines were produced for own and local consumption, arose the company that carries the family name and the Galiotto’s quickly expanded their vineyards. Today, Vinícola Galiotto has broad and modern installations, where they still produce wines, fizzy drinks and, more recently, grape juice.
Contact
Telephone: (+55 54) 3279-5235
Site: www.galiotto.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
