Dubai – From the city of Igarapé-Miri, in the northern Brazilian state of Pará, the company Bony Açaí produces the canned drink competing in the 2023 Gulfood Innovation Awards. The fair is the biggest in the food and beverage sector in the Middle East, and each year awards the best products in different categories. The event opened this Monday (20) and runs until February 24, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
This time, the Brazilian brand competes for Most Innovative Beverage with the product featuring açaí berries and guarana syrup. “It’s an açaí-based food, which for having guarana as a natural sweetener, has energy drink characteristics. These ingredients give energy for a long day and proper nutrition for children,” said Luara Bony, the company’s CCO. “It can be used as a pre-workout supplement, for instance. And we are very proud to see a Brazilian product shortlisted for the award. It is already a win,” said Elis Bastos, the brand’s representative in the UAE.
The Brazilian product competes with a protein water and a tea. Açaí originates from the Amazon rainforest region and has Pará as its primary producing state. Bony harvests and processes its own açaí, and its plant has a production capacity of up to 250,000 kilos of pulp a day.
The brand’s product line ranges from pulps to preparations such as canned beverages and sorbets. Canned açaí has a longer shelf life than the brand’s sorbets, which do not contain preservatives.
Currently, the company sells its products in Brazil and is exhibiting at Gulfood in the Brazil Pavilion, organized by the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).
The company’s goal at the show is mainly to find a local distributor. “Bony wanted to grow first in Brazil and only then target foreign markets. Now, here in Dubai, this is the idea. Finding a partner prepared to distribute, with cold chain logistics,” explained Bastos to ANBA.
Over 100 Brazilian companies are exhibiting at the show in Dubai this year. In addition to the Brazil pavilions organized by ApexBrasil, there are also stands like the ABCC’s, which brought 11 companies from different sectors.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
