São Paulo – Apis Vida, a honey and honey products manufacturing company, wants to export to the Arab market. The company is in the process of obtaining a halal certificate, which attests that its items are made in accordance with Islamic tradition, and is betting on honey combined with other products and on grade-A items to gain customers in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Theirs is a market which imports large amounts of honey, and we are getting quotation requests from that region,” says the company’s trader Patrícia Oliveira. She notes that Apis Vida manufactures both traditional and organic honey. The company has its own trademark for export, Beelife.
“We have been conducting research and we have ascertained that Arab countries are keenly interested in buying Brazilian honey,” says Oliveira. According to her, the countries that hold the most potential for the company are Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Libya and the United Arab Emirates.
The executive points out that in addition to pure honey, the company plans on shipping exclusive products to the Arab countries. “We have a line of honey mixed with other products, such as honey and guaraná. We want to show other possibilities that taste as good as pure honey,” she asserted.
In order to seek out customers in the Arab countries, the company engaged in matchmaking rounds this month at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, convening with importers from Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.
The event is part of the World Cup Buyer Project, which has brought importers from several countries to Brazil, and was organized in a partnership between the Arab Chamber and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). “We are also interested in taking part in the main food trade fairs of the Arab world,” said the trader.
Another product Apis Vida wants to sell to the Arabs is royal jelly. The foodstuff is used to fight off fatigue, to regulate the digestive tract, to invigorate the liver and renew skin, among other uses. “It is a premium product,” Oliveira points out.
The company’s annual output is 250 tonnes of honey, with a US$ 899,900 (or R$ 2 million) gross revenue. From the total produced, 10% is intended for the foreign market. Currently, the main destination of Apis Vida’s exports is the United States, but the company also exports to China, Hong Kong, Macau, Germany, Colombia and Spain.
Apis Vida also produces propolis, energetic drinks and functional food. The company is headquartered in the city of Bebedouro, in São Paulo’s coutnryside, but the commercial office is located in São Paulo’s capital.
Contact
Apis Vida
Phone.: (+5511) 2097-2505
Email: export2@apisvida.com.br
Website: www.apisvida.com.br (in Portuguese)
http://www.beelife.us/ (in English)
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum and Rodrigo Mendonça
