São Paulo – Brazilian companies from the food and construction sectors took part this Tuesday (9th) in a business meeting with Dubai buyers organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with exports promotion agency Dubai Exports and the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp) in the city of São Paulo. Producers of honey, spices, sweets and trading companies, among 18 companies, presented products to buyers from a Dubai Exports delegation.
International sales manager of Bazzar, a company that produces seasoning sauces and syrups, among others, Célia Bentaleb said that there’s a good probability of selling her products to the Dubai market. One of the companies with which she met, AlphaSky, sells food to restaurants, hotels and airlines. “From the 13 products that I presented, the representative showed interest for four of them, and asked for samples and price. This could be a way for our brand to make its way to the United Arab Emirates”, she said.
The company was created in 2007 to meet the demand from the restaurant of the same name in Rio de Janeiro. It was a big success and the products made their way to other Brazilian cities beyond Rio de Janeiro and later conquered the markets of other countries. London, New York, Paris, Tokyo are some of the destinations of the brand, which now aspires to reach Dubai. She said that since its development, Bazzar already had a focus in the Arab market, since all of the halal requirements (attesting the following of Islamic rules) are already met by the company.
Commercial manager of Apisvida, honey and honey products producer, Cecília Solano said that the company is seeking for new markets. “Dubai is a market with a high purchasing power. We are working the brand for an elite consumer, which match the Arabs profile”, said Cecília. One of the businessmen with whom she met asked for samples of the product.
The manager of new projects of the trading company Target, Claudia Moura, also noticed that the high purchasing power of Dubai residents is attractive for the exporter. Besides this reason, she cited the young population and the large number of tourists and expats. To buyers, she presented the company’s project of exporting beef to the Emirate.
“Dubai is on the rise, it has residents from all over the world and large number of young people. Our company used to work with partners in long-term projects and that’s our intention now. We want to sell a tastier premium beef to distributors. Later, we can present other Brazilian products, which are always well received”, she said.
Among the Arabs that came for the business meetings, the CEO of the engineering and projects company Module, Ashraf Saleh Al Labban, sought for stones and marble and presented the opportunities in the United Arab Emirates construction market. “We see Indian, European and North-American companies in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but not a lot of Brazilian companies and investors. The Dubai market offers a lot of opportunities because it’s growing and has a lot of projects. In Dubai, nothing is impossible”, he said. Besides Module and AlphaSky, also in the meetings were DP World, which operates with cargo transportation and ports management, and DMCC, the government body that regulates the trade of commodities in Dubai.
The Arab companies are part of a delegation organized by Dubai Export and the consulate general of the United Arab Emirates in São Paulo. Also on Tuesday, the consulate and Dubai Exports promoted in the city of São Paulo a seminar about halal products.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
