São Paulo – Cerâmica Stéfani, a producer of clay water filters and filter cartridges based in Jaboticabal (346 km from São Paulo), has come on strong this year in the markets of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with the first containers already being shipped. After receiving small orders from the two countries in the previous years, the company has now closed two larger orders from distributors from the Gulf nations.
“There were 502 clay filters to the UAE, plus table jugs and clay reservoirs. In Saudi Arabia, they have bought mainly filters that are half clay and half plastic. They are lighter than the all-clay ones, but also chill the water. There were 1070 filters and also cartridges,” says Aguinaldo Castaldelli Neto, the company’s exports manager.
According to Castaldelli, the contacts that turned into sales to the Arab countries were made through the internet. “We’re leaders in the domestic market in clay filters,” says the executive, pointing out that the company exports since the 1970s, and therefore it is always contacted by international clients.
The containers were shipped to the Middle East in the first half of this year. Thus, the executive is expecting new orders from the Arab clients for the next year.
Castaldelli also reveals that the UAE distributor is planning to take Stéfani’s filters to other countries in the region. “He’s been in talks with distributors from Kuwait and Qatar,” he says.
About the unique features of the brand’s products, Castaldelli says that the cartridges in the filters have a triple action. “They retain solid particles, remove the chlorine and taste and sterilize the water, removing bacteria.” Another feature of the clay filter, says the manager, is that it chills the water naturally up to five Celsius degrees below room temperature.
Cerâmica Stéfani produces 20,000 filters and around 500,000 cartridges monthly. In a year, the company exports to around 30 countries and foreign sales account for 10% of its revenues.
The main destinations for the company’s exports are Australia and Colombia, with frequent sales to other countries in South and Central America, plus Africa and Europe as well. “We also want to seek for countries in North Africa, such as Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria and Sudan,” says Castaldelli on other Arab countries the company’s also planning to enter.
Founded in 1947, Cerâmica Stéfani has 160 employees and around BRL 30 million (USD 8.95 million) in revenues per year.
Contact information
Cerâmica Stéfani
Website: www.ceramicastefani.com.br
Phone: +55 16 3209-4788
Email: export@ceramicastefani.com.br
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
