Dubai – Already a household name in Arab countries, Brazil’s Café Cacique, owner of the brand Café Pelé, is taking advantage of this year’s edition of the Gulfood fair, in Dubai, to sell a new product to its clients. The novelty is the private label concept, whereby the coffee is sold bearing the buyer’s brand, be it a supermarket, restaurant or hotel.
“This type of product has a strong appeal here (in the Middle East). We have created a layout of how the customer-branded label can look. We are letting buyers know that our marketing department can tailor the product to meet their needs,” says Café Cacique international sales manager for the Middle East Argélia Andrade. In addition to this option, says the executive, the company is betting on its proprietary Café Pelé brand to boost sales and conquer new clients. The company manufactures 18,000 tonnes of soluble coffee per year, and this is the variety it sells to the Middle East.
“This fair is gaining importance with each new year. Not only does it attract Middle Eastern visitors, but also many Asian ones. We have found new customers here every year, and we hope this will be the case in 2014. Besides, since it is a large fair, all of our clients attend. It is a chance to meet with buyers that I otherwise wouldn’t see every year,” she says. The Gulfood will take place from February 23rd to 27th. The stand organized by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce will feature 77 companies in different industries, including coffee, confectionery, grain and meats.
The executive declines to set targets or give estimates, but says that although the company already ships product to the Middle East and North Africa, the region’s market is still in the process of being developed, and its share in overall revenues may increase. Café Cacique ships coffee to 56 countries. Arab buyers include Libya, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
