São Paulo – The Arab countries are part of the plans of the Brazilian Association of Toiletries, Perfumes & Cosmetics Industries (Abihpec) for this year. The first action will be carried out in March, as the association’s commercial promotion analyst, Guilherme Amorim, will carry out a prospecting mission to Egypt and Morocco. Brazilian industry exports to those countries have grown by 30% and 28% last year, respectively, compared with 2009.
Amorim’s assignment in those countries will be to find out who the players on the market are, what the distribution channels are, how they work, who places the orders and what they buy. According to the analyst, a study must be conducted first to check whether the countries will be included in the Abihpec’s export project or not.
In the case of Saudi Arabia, which already is a target market, the organization is scheduling a road show in Riyadh, the capital. The idea is to take up to five companies to the country, where individual meetings will be scheduled with local distributors. "During one week we will go over to the distributors and speak to them, so there will be no need for them to go to a hotel," said Amorim.
The distributors are surveyed by a local consultancy firm that helps spot potential buyers of Brazilian products. The road show will take place a week before the Beauty World Middle East, a cosmetics fair due May 24th to 26th in Dubai. This will be the eighth time that the Abihpec participates in the fair. This year, the Brazilian pavilion will have 150 square metres and 50% of the venue is already booked.
"It is a very interesting market. In 2004 and 2005 there was a huge boom, when the market was going strong. Now it has cooled down, but due to the Apex’s Business Centre in Dubai, companies want to continue investing in the Arab market," said Amorim, referring to the facilities that the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) maintains in the United Arab Emirates.
Last year, the Abihpec participated for the first time in Beauty Vision, a cosmetics fair held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates. According to him, the fair is newer and much smaller than Beauty World Middle East. The event takes place towards the end of the second half, therefore the organization is yet to decide whether it will participate again.
Brazilian industry exports to the Arab countries have grown by 95% from 2009 to last year, more than the growth rate of total Brazilian exports in the industry, which increased by 22% using the same basis of comparison. Exports to the Arab countries reached US$ 8.2 million last year, whereas total sales reached US$ 530 million.
The most sold products to the region are hair products, such as shampoos, lotions, dyes and hydrating items. Another segment is oral products, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Companies interested in taking part in the road show or the Beauty World Middle East should contact the Abihpec.
Contact
Guilherme Amorim
Tel. +55 11 3372-9871
Email: guilherme@abihpec.org.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
