Marina Sarruf
marina.sarruf@anba.com.br
São Paulo – Brazilian fitness fashion brand Bia Brazil is already known in around 40 countries, but is not yet in the Arab market. For this, the brand owner, Beatriz Dockhorn, is gong to participate in a business delegation to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to take place in November this year. The trip will be promoted by the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (Abit) and by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex).
"This year we are trying to enter new markets and I believe that our product will be well accepted in Dubai," stated Beatriz, who has already shipped some articles to women in Dubai. "One of them is a pilates teacher who buys the products and sells them to her students," she explained. The clothes produced by Bia Brazil are created and developed by Beatriz herself.
The company, which has offices in the city of Porto Alegre, in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, was established aimed at the foreign market. According to Beatriz, she started producing the garments in her garden together with her sister. "In the beginning we were four workers, but the factory now employs 40 people," she said. On the market for 10 years, the Bia Brazil leggings, jackets, shorts and tank tops made out of suplex fabric are already sold in shops in the United States and Japan.
"We only work with quality products. Our products are made out of threads imported from Germany. It is a thread that does not break," stated Beatriz. According to her, to guarantee a foreign market it is necessary to work exclusively with quality products. "It is necessary to offer the best in any sector," she said. A proof of the success of the Bia Brazil brand abroad is that, of the total produced by the organisation, 90% is exported.
According to Beatriz, the company objective this year is to manage to increase foreign sales by 30%. "Our target is to continue on the foreign market. In 2008 we hope to reach these new markets." The company produces on average 20,000 items a month and the main destinations for the gymnastics clothes are the United States, South Africa, Australia, Canada and Mexico.
To win new markets, Beatriz always participates in foreign fairs, and her next destinations will be Spain and Russia. The businesswoman explains that in the beginning of her activities, her first export was through the company site to Costa Rica. "This was ten years ago and the importer is still our client. Nowadays our products are sold at a chain of stores in Costa Rica, which is present in three shopping centres in the country," she said. Beatriz also stated that the company site, since the beginning, had already been developed in three languages: Portuguese, English and Spanish.
Domestic market
To supply the demand on the domestic market, Beatriz is reformulating the company site. According to her, Brazilians interested in the Bia Brazil articles may place their orders on the site. Despite producing only gymnastics clothes, the company produces bikinis exclusively for the Miss Rio Grande do Sul and Garota Brasil pageants.
Contact
Bia Brazil
Tel: (+55 51) 3344-7602
E-mail: exportacao@biabrazil.com.br
Site: www.biabrazil.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament