São Paulo – For the second time, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce will bring a group of supermarket industry representatives and food distributors from the Arab countries for business roundtables in the city of São Paulo. Eight companies from seven countries will be in the Brazil from May 10th to 13th. Enrolment for Brazilian suppliers will remain open until Wednesday (5th) at the Arab Brazilian Chamber website.
"These are large Arab groups that do not come to Brazil often. It will be a great opportunity for Brazilian companies," said the Foreign Trade manager at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Francisca Barros. According to her, the investment potential and the wide range of markets in which the groups operate are noteworthy.
For instance, the Al Maya Group, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is the leading foodstuff distributor in the Middle East. The group has a chain of 18 supermarkets, coordinates operations in Europe and India, and employs over 3,000 people. The Cozmocenter group, from Amman, Jordan, is part of the Cosmo chain, which offers a broad variety of imported products. The Spinneys group, from Cairo, Egypt, has vast supermarket chains in the country and branches in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, and the Emirates.
Two Bahraini groups are going to participate in the roundtables, Maza (Mohamed Ali Zainal Abdulla), with annual revenues of approximately US$ 20 million, and Trafco, with annual revenues of US$ 100 million and 11 supermarkets in Bahrain, under the name Metro. Another company will be Numidis, from Algeria, a branch of the Cevital Group, one of the country’s largest, with a capital of US$ 800 million.
Groups from Yemen and Djibouti will also attend the meetings, such as the companies Alsaeed Trading and Al Gamil, respectively. “These are different opportunities for Brazilian companies,” said Francisca, who believes that few people know the potential of these countries. Al Gamil, for example, is the leading food distributor in the country.
According to the manager of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, the groups are not aware of the potential of the Brazilian market and seek new products across the entire food segment, including beef, chicken, dairy, sweets, biscuits, pasta, coffee, fruit and grain.
In addition to the business roundtables, which will be held on the 10th and 11th this month, from 09:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 02:00 pm to 06:00 pm, the importers are going to visit the Apas trade show, for foodstuffs, held from the 10th to the 13th in the city of São Paulo. companies interested in participating in the business meetings, which will be held at the Arab Brazilian Chamber headquarters, in São Paulo, should enrol at the site www.ccab.org.br. The enrolment fee is 1,500 Brazilian real (US$ 854), and includes pre-scheduled meetings lasting 30 minutes each.
Further information
Arab Brazilian Chamber – Foreign Trade Department
Tel. (+55 11) 3147-4067 (Hans Lazarte)
Email: comex@ccab.org.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
