São Paulo – Founded in 1919 in Brazil and best known for its sweetened condensed milk, dairy brand Mococa has enjoyed the trust of Brazilian consumers for many years and is now working to win the loyalty of Arab consumers as well.
“We started exporting our products in the 1990s but only reached Saudi Arabia and Tunisia about 15 years ago. It’s been a more recent market for us, but with a lot of potential. We expect to enter Algeria and Egypt soon,” says Mococa Foreign Trade Manager Maurício Paranhos de Moraes.
Moraes believes that both sweetened condensed milk and condensed dairy blend, which have been among the best sellers in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia since 2010, should also succeed with consumers in Algeria and Egypt.
“Negotiations with these countries are going very well. They’ve even agreed to handle the marketing, and now the company just needs to finish developing the packaging before starting sales.”
With a very large market and strong receptivity toward Brazilians, Mococa has faced no difficulties in negotiations with Arab buyers since the start of its exports.
“Since the product was already halal, we only needed to adapt the packaging with the proper translations and adjust the nutritional levels of the products to meet the needs of local consumers,” says Moraes.
When discussing the factors that helped bring the brand to the region—which, until 2010, did not buy sweetened condensed milk from any Brazilian company—Moraes highlights participation in events and the issuance of the halal certificate, which guarantees that the product was made following Islamic rules and is therefore suitable for consumption by Muslims.
“The 2010 Djazagro, which was the first fair we participated in, was definitely responsible for helping us get to know the market and later increase our export volume in the region. After obtaining the halal certification and attending Gulfood in 2024, this relationship grew even stronger,” Moraes recalls.
Growing steadily, exports to Arab countries now account for 3% of the Brazilian brand’s national production, which in volume represents the sale of six tons of products to the region every year.
In addition to Middle Eastern and North African countries, the century-old dairy brand exports to more than 10 other nations such as Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Costa Rica, the United States, and Japan. Purchases from these destinations currently represent between 10% and 12% of Mococa’s national production.
Arab sweets
Known for making sweets with more fruit and less added sugar, the interest of Arab countries in sweetened condensed milk may even come as a surprise. But Moraes explains that Arabs have really taken to the Brazilian product.
“Before we started selling sweetened condensed milk there, we actually did a study about the most popular sweets in the region that could pair best with our product. After tests and evaluations, we decided to target that market. It’s been a great experience,” explains Moraes.
“We know they consume a lot of sweets, and many people might not realize this, but sweetened condensed milk is an ingredient that can be used in countless Arab recipes, especially in ice creams.”
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Report by Rebecca Vettore, in collaboration with ANBA
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
