São Paulo – The biggest instant coffee producing and exporting country in the world, Brazil shipped a record-breaking 4.1 million 60-kg bags of the product in 2020, up 2.4% from 2019, when the previous record had been achieved. Sales to Arab countries, however, were down 39% to 54,968 60-kg bags in 2020. The numbers were made public by the Brazilian Instant Coffee Industry Association Abics).
Brazilian instant coffee gets shipped to over 120 countries. Even though Saudi Arabia ranks among the top 20 destinations, its imports were down 33% in 2020. The Gulf country buys mostly packaged product.
“Saudi Arabia has been importing from Brazil for decades now, and it has always been among the top 20 to 25 leading importers. However, imports will fluctuate from year to year,” Abics director Aguinaldo Lima said.
Fluctuations aside, there’s also the fact that a new record was set in 2019. The second biggest Arab importer of instant cofffee from Brazil is the United Arab Emirates, followed by Lebanon, Jordan and Tunisia. Out of these, only Tunisia stepped up its purchases, to 2,112 60-kg bags.
Globally speaking, instant coffee consumption is tending up. Lima explains that current numbers indicate that 25% of all coffee sold worldwide is of the instant kind, with volumes climbing 3% a year. roast and ground coffee sales go up 1% a year. in Brazil, according to Abics, instant coffee consumption increases by 4.2% each year.
In 2019, Abics launched a brand to promote Brazilian product around the world: Explore&Enjoy – Instant Coffee Brazil. “When it comes to foreign markets, we are already in touch with buyers and distributors. Brazil is strong when it comes to non-packaged instant coffee, so we do not work as hard on end-buyer marketing as we do on industry sales,” Lima explained. Some of the trends regarding international sales include farm-to-market traceability and origin.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
