São Paulo – Alsaeed Trading Company, from Yemen, should start importing evaporated milk from Itambé, one of the main dairies in Brazil. Representatives of the group are in São Paulo participating in business roundtables at the International Supermarket Business Fair (Apas), which began yesterday (18th), at the Expo Center Norte. The meetings are organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
"The company had been communicating with Itambé since Sial (a food sector fair), in Paris, last year. Now we are almost closing the deal with them," said the general manager at the group, Walid Hizam Dhafer, who plans to order 10 containers of evaporated milk. "The idea is to import around 20 containers a month," he added.
The group imported sugar and maize from Brazil and is interested in expanding imports. On the first day of the business meetings, Alsaeed Trading spoke to over 10 Brazilian businesses. "All of them have great potential and we are certainly going to close deals," said Dhafer. According to him, apart from Itambé, he was also interested in a company that sells chicken and in a canned food producer. To learn a little more about Brazilian companies, the representatives should visit the factories of some of them on Thursday and Friday. "We are even considering extending our stay in Brazil," said the general manager.
Another group that was interest in Brazilian dairy was Al Maya Trading, from the United Arab Emirates. "Many companies have potential and present good prices," said the head of the import and export division at the organisation. According to him, for a first day, the meetings were very positive and should generate deals after the fair.
One of the Brazilian companies that met with the Arab groups was Brasfrigo Alimentos, a maker of canned foods and tomato sauce. According to the international business manager at the group, Ívini Granado, the meetings were very productive and the Arabs showed great interest in company products.
Another company that participated in the roundtables was Caiba, a producer of Brazil nuts. The company already exports to Egypt, Libya, Lebanon and Jordan, but the sales are not constant. "The Arab market is the most interesting to us as it does not require as much certification as others and pays in advance," said the administrative director at Caiba, José Jayme Belicha.
According to him, the company has capacity to produce between 500 and 1,500 tonnes of unshelled nuts a year. With over 60 years on the market, Caiba exports on average 80% of its production to 16 countries. "Nowadays Brazil nuts have a very strong functional appeal, in addition to being a product of the Amazon," said Belicha, who is going to send samples to group Ibrahim Odeh and Partner, from Jordan.
Yesterday, on the first day of the roundtables, over 30 Brazilian companies met with the Arab importers, among them Novo Mel, which does not yet export to the Arab market, Alliance Commodities, in the dairy and dairy product sector, which already exports to the Middle East and Africa, and Dunga, of biscuits and sweets, as well as Aurora winery.
*Translated by Mark Ament
