São Paulo – Cooperja, a rice farming cooperative based in Jacinto Machado, in the state of Santa Catarina, is surveying the Arab market w an eye on exports. Early this month, the cooperative attended the Saitex fair, in South Africa, where it came into contact with an importer from Dubai. Rodrigo Veiga, who is in charge of commercial management, went to the fair and said the conversation was merely for prospecting, but notes that Cooperja is assessing the Arab and Asian markets to learn about the region’s needs. “We are aware that they are consumers of large volumes of rice,” he says.
Cooperja exports to South Africa and Panama, and has sold to other regions such as Canada, Europe and African countries such as Nigeria, Benin, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. This was the cooperative’s second year at Saitex, sponsored by the Brazilian government. Cooperja has sold to South Africa although the export price was not favourable. “We did it to keep the customer,” said Cooperja managing director Carlos Roberto Wilk, who attended the fair with Viega and the cooperative’s customs agent Fabio Belau.
Last year, Cooperja processed 120,000 tonnes of rice, and the target for this year is 135,000 tonnes. The cooperative exported 17.5% of its output and expects to ship out 20% by 2017, when the output is projected to be 180,000 tonnes. The cooperative is waiting for the dollar price to level out and for international rice prices to match domestic before increasing its exports. Cooperja attends fairs in foreign countries, such as the one in South Africa, to which it plans on returning in 2014, and it should go to an event in Peru still this year.
The cooperative has two rice processing and packing units, one in Jacinto Machado, Santa Catarina, and the other in Santo Antônio da Patrulha, Rio Grande do Sul. It also owns one rice and one maize storage facility in Praia Grande, also in Santa Catarina, and one rice and one maize storage facility in Jacinto Machado. The cooperative keeps three supermarkets and eight agricultural stores in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande Do Sul, apart from other businesses and facilities.
The cooperative comprises 1,300 associates. Most of them produce rice, which accounts for over 70% of revenues for Cooperja. The rice is of the irrigated variety. The cooperative was established in 1969 by a group of farmers, and it first exported in 2008. Domestically, the rice is mostly sold under the Caçarola brand. Abroad, the rice is sold in bulk, in 50- or 60-kilogram bags bearing the customer’s brand. According to Wilk, Cooperja is preparing to sell its own brand internationally as well.
Contact:
Cooperja
Telephone: +55 48 3535-6000
Website: www.cooperja.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
