São Paulo – Over 30 producers of fruit met with director Abdul Rahiman, from company Interworld Foods, from Dubai, in the three days of roundtables at Fruit&Log, which ended yesterday (10th), in São Paulo. According to him, deals should be closed for import of watermelon, melon and assai. "The meetings were very positive. Now I am going to start negotiations when I return to Dubai," he said.
The company from the Emirates already imports oranges, limes and grapes from Brazil. Fruit imports began two years ago, but the company has been buying chicken for a long time. "This is my third time in Brazil. Now I have come to learn more about the Brazilian fruit," said Rahiman, who did not know assai and found it very interesting. "Taking assai to the Emirates first requires promotion of the fruit in the country," he added.
According to the director, in case the business comes through, the idea is to import between 4 and 5 containers of melon and watermelon a month. The fruit, shipped by sea, takes around 30 days to get to Dubai. "I must see how much the freight turns out to so as to decide whether it is worthwhile," said Rahiman, who would also like to import cashew nuts from Brazil, but found the freight too expensive.
Another product that Rahiman is interested in importing from Brazil is frozen vegetables. According to him, Interworld Foods sells 100 tonnes of vegetables a month. "I found no company in Brazil that exports frozen vegetables," he said.
The organisation in Dubai also represents company Abdul Fatah Mohd Noor, from Oman. Both groups work in import, export and processing of food. In total, not just from Brazil, the organisations import 40 containers a month in fruit and vegetables.
Rahiman was among the 15 international buyers participating in the roundtables promoted by the Brazilian Fruit Institute (Ibraf). This was the first edition of the Fruit&Log, which brought together 94 Brazilian exhibitors. "The buyers and sellers liked the meetings very much. The sellers considered the importers very professional and found the potential great," said the executive manager at the Ibraf, Valeska Oliveira.
The business roundtables included 255 meetings with 51 sellers and 19 buyers, being four national. Importers were from Germany, England, Russia, the Netherlands, Denmark, South Africa, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and the Emirates.
Contact
Interworld Foods
E-mail: intfoods@eim.ae
Site: www.afmnc.com
*Translated by Mark Ament
