Dubai – On the first day of Gulfood, the largest fair in the food industry in the Middle East, which began today (23), in Dubai, Brazilian companies have already started closing deals. In less than two hours from the opening of the event, company Vittal, a maker of soft drinks, signed an order for shipment of one container of products to Dubai, with 66,000 cans of Guaraná. This should be the company’s first export to the Emirates.
The soft drink cans are already in Arabic and should be imported by a distributor in the Arab country. According to the export consultant at Vittal, Khalil Fraig, contacts with the distributor were made yesterday, in Dubai, during the Flavours from Brazil event, promoted by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). "We have great potential in this market. All those who sample the drink like it, but most people here do not know it yet," stated Fraig.
Vittal, which makes four flavours of juices, like mango, peach, passion fruit and grape and also produces iced tea and bottled mineral water, has been on the market for 40 years and only recently started investing in the foreign market. "Our target is to turn 70% of our production to the Arab market," said Fraig, who already exports to Angola, Lebanon and the United States. "The Arab market should be our main market," bets the consultant. According to him, the compatible price on the local market, the quality of the company’s products and the Brazilian origin are the main factors causing Fraig to bet on the Arab market.
Another company that also closed a deal at the fair was trading company Pacific, which represents four Brazilian sweet, cake, biscuit and toast companies. The organisation should ship to a distributor in Dubai a container with 20 tonnes of caramels. This is the second Pacific participation in the Gulfood. According to the trader at the company, Flávio de Paula, the fair is an excellent event to meet importers from other regions outside the Middle East, like African countries, which are great buyers of sweets.
Apart from the deal made at the fair, Pacific closed yesterday in the Flavours from Brazil event and order with a customer from Oman for the value of US$ 25,000. Shipments should include cakes, sweets, biscuits and panetones. This should be the first export the company makes to Oman, but it is already present in Libya, Yemen, the United States, South Africa and Cuba, as well as other African and Mercosur countries. The United States are currently the main market for Pacific, but the company bets very much on the market of the Arab Gulf. "Arab businessmen know little about the Brazilian industry and now, with the appreciated dollar, our price is more competitive and more interesting for Brazilian companies," said de Paula.
The export director at trading company Alliance Commodities, Marcos Goulart, ended the first day of the fair with negotiated business. "The deals should be closed tomorrow," said the executive, who works with powdered milk, cheese and condensed milk, among others. All these companies, except for Vital, are exhibiting at the stand organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture.
"I am surprised that the fair is not less busy that last year," said the agribusiness international promotion director at the Ministry, Eduardo Sampaio Marques, who believed that due to the crisis there would have been lower movement at the fair. "The perception of Brazilian exhibitors is good," he added.
According to Marques, Brazil already has a strong presence in the Arab market, but added that diversification of the export basket is still necessary. "I bet on the dairy sector. Brazil is becoming a great exporter and this is a region of great imports," he said.
The secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby, also believed that due to the crisis, the number of visitors at the fair would be smaller. "Not only was our stand full, but other stands of Brazilian companies were too. It is exceeding expectations," he said.
Among the Arab visitors at the Arab Brazilian Chamber stand was the general manager of Al-Raqeeb Universal Group, Ali Z. Raqeeb, from Saudi Arabia. The group, which is an importer and distributor to the main supermarket chains in this country does not yet import from Brazil but is greatly interested in Brazilian products. Raqeeb seeks coconut water, biscuits, cheese and juice.
For 30 years in the Saudi market, the group imports mainly from Asia, Greece and Spain. Among the products distributed by the company are canned products, like beef, tuna, sardines, snacks, biscuits, rice, condiments, teas and pasta.
Assai for royalty
Exhibiting at the Gulfood for the first time, Bony Açaí, from Belém, Pará, received a surprising contact on the first day of the event. The operations manager of the office of the royal palace of the United Arab Emirates went to the fair after assai for prince Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has jiu-jitsu lessons with a Brazilian teacher that participates in martial arts world championships. These championships are sponsored by Bony Assai.
"He wanted to buy all our samples," said the company founder and CEO, Bony Monteiro. According to him, this may be a great business opportunity for the company. "The fact that a celebrity came to search for our product alone is already marvellous," he said.
The company, which has been on the market for five years, exports half of its production, mainly to the United States. The main partner of the Brazilian company is the North American Monavie, the main assai juice producer in the world. The North American company buys the Brazilian, assai fruit through distributor Earth Fruits, which has already managed to open markets for the company in Asia and is now investing in Europe. "This partnership has helped Bony Açaí grow very fast and win new markets," said the manager at Earth Fruits, Marshall Snarr, who is at the fair.
Bony Açaí, which has its own farms and also buys the fruit from small producers in Pará has daily production of 50,000 kilograms.
Gulfood, which ends on Thursday (26), was inaugurated by the ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance of the Emirates, Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
*Translated by Mark Ament
