São Paulo – Food company Caramuru Alimentos, Brazil’s leading domestic enterprise in soy, maize, sunflower and canola processing, has just earned halal certificates for nine products in its line. Thus, the company intends to increase its exports to the Arab market, to which it now sells via the United States and Europe.
The certification was granted by the Brazilian Muslim Halal Food Centre (Cibal Halal), this month, at plants in Itumbiara and São Simão, both in the state of Goiás. Now, refined soybean oil, refined maize oil, refined canola oil, refined sunflower oil, degummed soybean oil, soybean oil distillate, soy lecithin, toasted soybean chaff, and soybean shell chaff have already been approved and certified according to Muslim law.
"These are the main products. We are going to see what happens on the market and, if if we have to, we will certify other products as well," says César Borges de Sousa, the vice president of Caramuru.
The executive explains that he decided to apply for certification because the cop is always interested in supplying different markets. "We heard of this requirement in order to sell to the [Arab] market, so we acted. We are ready, because once we get an opportunity, we want to seize it."
Sousa says that the company exports approximately 40% of its output, posting US$ 450 million in annual revenues from foreign sales. He believes that certification may open up new avenues in the Arab market. "Now that we are certified, we can look into those countries with greater ease," he explains.
The Arab countries’ food import needs are another factor that cheers up the Caramuru vice president. "Generally, they are countries that do not produce much in the way of agriculture, and Brazil is among the main players in the sector. We have keen interest in exporting mainly value-added products, and not just raw material," he says. The company posts annual revenues of US$ 1.1 billion.
Contact
Caramuru Alimentos
Tel: + 55 64 3404-0200
Site: www.caramuru.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
