São Paulo – This Monday (24th), thirteen Egyptian companies are participating in business matchmaking rounds at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce headquarters in São Paulo, with the purpose of exporting spices, herbs and medicinal plants. The companies are affiliated with the export promotion project Emap (Egyptian Medicinal and Aromatic Plants).
“We determined that Brazil is one of the potential markets for our medicinal and aromatic plants, and we realized that this would be a good business opportunity, to have the Egyptian and Brazilian companies come together,” said project coordinator Mahmoud Abdel Salam. “We already have three companies which export to Brazil, but they sell less than 5% of their production to the country, so we have decided to expand our sales to Brazil,” he said.
“Brazil ranks among the most important target countries to us. We began with herbs and spices, and now we are looking into other potential export items. We are here to survey the market. I think we have good opportunities, because we have items which are not produced in Brazil. We believe we can be very competitive in these spices,” said Tarek Abou-Bakr, head of the Herbs and Spices Division of Egypt’s Agriculture Export Council, which is linked to the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade.
One of the Egyptian companies which do business with Brazil is Herbal/FM. The company has been on the market since 1990, and has sold to Brazil for eight years now. “We export vanilla, anise, basil and marjoram to Brazil,” says the company’s CEO Amr Bahgat. He notes the importance of negotiating direct with Brazilian importers. “To us Egyptians, it is really important being here in Brazil; it is important to make your presence felt in the market that you want to be in,” he said.
César Horovitz, a representative of the Brazil-based food company Certa Indústria e Comércio de Alimentos, says his company already buys spices from Egypt via Brazilian importers, and that he attended the rounds because he wants to buy directly from the Arab producers. “Here, the offers that interested us were herbs such as marjoram, basil, parsley. Several companies have offered products with quite acceptable quality. I have gotten a hold of some samples, and others will be shipped to me,” says the executive.
Arcotrade has exported to Brazil approximately five years ago. Now, it wants to conquer the Brazilian market back again. “We are trying to explore further deals with Brazil, because we are aware that there is a great market in Brazil for many of Egypt’s herbs and spices, and we are trying to tap into that market. Also, by visiting [foodstuffs fair] Sial, we hope to establish direct connections with the Brazilian importers,” said CEO Houssam Shalaby. The Egyptians are planning on visiting the fair this week in São Paulo.
Jorge Antônio, a trader for Sakura, a company which specializes in sauces, is attending the rounds seeking new spices for the company’s products. “We are here to find spices which will best suit our production line,” he said.
So far, the company works solely with Brazilian raw materials. Now, it wants to broaden the palette of flavours in its products. “Even though a given product may be found in Brazil, it comes from a different region so it has a differential, a new flavour,” he said.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
