São Paulo – The travel of Arab food importers to Brazil, from July 9th to 11th, promoted by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), aims at diversifying the food sector’s export basket. Over 65 Brazilian companies are enrolled to participate in the business roundtables to take place next week.
“We are opening Arab eyes to new kinds of products, like tropical fruit, soy, maize, natural juice and canned products, among others. Apart from maintaining relations and contacts with exporters of traditional products like coffee, sugar, meats and their products,” said Tamer Mansour, Government Relations executive at the Arab Brazilian Chamber. “We expect deals to be made. We invited several companies with new products, not focussing on beef and chicken (the products most exported by Brazil to the region, as well as sugar),” he said.
The list of importers includes companies Al-Yasra Food Co., International Center Group for Foodstuff, S.H.E. and The Sultan Center, from Kuwait; Babasons, from Bahrain; Barakat International Co., T. Choithram & Sons, EMKE, Federal Foods and Spinneys, from the United Arab Emirates; and IEG, from Jordan.
The agenda of the Arabs in Brazil starts on the 9th, with technical visits to Marfrig Group (beef), Pão de Açucar (supermarkets), Cibal Halal (certifiers), the Brazilian Poultry Union (Ubabef) and the Brazilian Beef Industry and Exporters Association (Abiec). “Each organisation is going to make a presentation about its sector. Marfrig entered the list as it is the second main beef sector company in the world and we hope to generate business between the Arabs and Pão de Açúcar,” explained Mansour. On the 10th and 11th, there will be roundtables at the offices of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, in São Paulo.
Germani Alimentos, headquartered in Santa Cruz do Sul, in Rio Grande do Sul, does not yet export to the Arab market. However, the intention of selling to the region resulted in the company adapting packages of some 30 products to Arabic. “We know it is a requirement. We are taking the packages to show at the roundtables,” said Patrícia Gueths, Foreign Trade supervisor.
Among the products made by her company, Gueths bets that those presenting greatest interest to the Arabs are savoury, sweet and stuffed biscuits, pasta – like spaghetti and fusilli. “The Arabs are importers of other Brazilian products and we believe we have potential to enter this market,” he pointed out. Currently, the company exports 170 tonnes of food a month to Uruguay, Paraguay, Angola and Liberia.
Alimentos Zaeli, from Umuarama, in the state of Paraná, is another company coming to the roundtables aiming to enter the Arab market. The company currently exports to Nigeria, Paraguay, South Africa, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina.
“We are going to try to open market in the Arab countries. We saw the list of products they are looking for and found that they fit our products,” said Bárbara Zago, the assistant at the presidency. In the production line there are some 300 products, like rice, beans, flours, condiments, seasoning, preserves, popcorn lines and natural foods, among others. “Rice is a product that we already export to Africa. I believe that it is the main product for export to the Arabs,” she said. Currently, the company produces 180 tonnes of food, of which 20% is exported.
Among the Brazilian companies are names like Minerva (meats), Nestlé, Bauducco (biscuits), Laticínios Catupiry (dairy), Camil (rice), JBS (meats) and others.
*Translated by Mark Ament
