São Paulo – Egypt’s date producer Haggan Group participates in international exhibitions as a quick, effective way to boost exports, break into new markets, and win customers. By using this strategy, the company is exhibiting at supermarket fair APAS Show in São Paulo.
It’s Haggan’s first time in a show in Brazil, and it already has plans on coming back for APAS 2024, said the company’s CEO Khaled El-Haggan.
The company is a producer and exporter of noble dates of several varietals and has its own farm of 102 hectares, as well as some 52 neighboring hectares that’re part of the production as well, totaling 154 hectares.
The group grows both madjool and barhi dates, as well as mangoes and Indian figs. High-quality palm seedlings are imported from an English laboratory to be either cultivated or sold locally.
According to El-Haggan, the firm aims to export to Germany, the United Kingdom, East European countries, and some West European countries, too, as well as Russia, China, Australia, Japan, Brazil, and other Latin American states.
Asked about how to overcome the challenges of the distance between Cairo and São Paulo, El-Haggan explained there’re varietals grown in Egypt that could be exported to Brazil and other Latin American countries. He mentioned the example of madjool dates, which can be stored in temperatures between + 5°C and -18°C.
He said the problem is fresh varietals like barhi, which shouldn’t be store. So first the amount the client needs is agreed upon, then certain cultivation methods are used to help extend the shelf life of the dates so that they can remain fresh for a longer time.
He stressed the Brazilian market is relevant for dates from Egypt, as the Latin American country has a large Arab community and the population is discovering the benefits of the product, which has contributed to increasing the customer base, regardless of religion or nationality.
Translated by Georgette Merkhan & Guilherme Miranda
