São Paulo – Leonardo Dall’Orto (pictured), vice president of International Markets & Planning at BRF, detailed the activities of his company and its partner Marfrig in halal markets during his presentation at the second edition of the Global Halal Brazil (GHB) Business Forum that was held in São Paulo, Brazil, by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) and certifier FAMBRAS Halal.
“I was very grateful for the invitation and the opportunity to speak to an audience that’s so connected to the halal culture and market,” he said. “I participate in this event wearing two hats, that of BRF and that of Marfrig, two major halal meat suppliers. Therefore, I’m representing 90 years of history and a team that’s bigger than many cities in Brazil and elsewhere, consisting of 135,000 people across 120 countries around the world.”
According to the executive, the complementariness of Marfrig and BRF operations is beneficial for both companies, making them the world’s largest poultry and beef producers and exporters.
Dall’Orto explained that the companies work in line in the multiprotein industry, so they can collaborate to meet the global demands for food, especially in the halal market, which has grown in food consumption and whose countries have a large potential for growth in both population and meat consumption for the coming years.
In 2020 only, BRF exported nearly 700,000 tonnes of poultry to the halal market. In turn, Marfrig exported over 250,000 tonnes of beef. “That is, together, the companies nearprly reach 1 million tonnes of foods exported to the halal world,” he said.
Dall’Orto said BRF/Marfrig wants to advance in domains that see demand for high-quality products, innovation, and convenience for the final consumer. “We treat halal with extremely relevance. We work with certifiers that attest our commitments with the quality of our products and the respect to halal procedures and requirements.”
Now 18 of BRF’s 38 plants across Brazil have production focused on the halal market. These plants seed the production of chicken cuts, griller chicken, breaded products, chicken sausages, hydrolyzed feather meals, and other products.
In turn, Marfrig has halal certification for 17 plants in its global production, 12 being in Brazil, one in Argentina, one in Chile, and three in the United States.
The GHB is supported by the International Halal Academy, the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the Union of Arab Chambers, and the Arab League, and it’s held in partnership with the Brazilian Federal Government, Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and ApexBrasil.
Its sponsors are BRF, Marfrig, Minerva Foods, Laila Travel, Turkish Airlines, Brazilian Tourism Board (Embratur), Travel Plus, H2R Insights & Trends, World Logistic Passport (WLP), Bank ABC in Brazil, Seara, Pão & Arte, Cristal Plus, Pamunã Alimentos.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda