São Paulo – It has already taken Brazilian heart of palm to Lebanon. And plans to return to doing so as soon as possible. Responsible for supplying retail chains like Pão de Açúcar, Carrefour, Wal-Mart and Makro, companies like Sadia/Perdigão and famous restaurants, like Fasano, in the city of São Paulo, Palmito Floresta plans to grow 15% in 2010.
Established by the Lebanese Merce Hojeije, currently mayor of the city of Juquiá, in Ribeira River Valley, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, the company is currently run by the entrepreneur’s son, Khalil Yepes Hojeije. He is responsible for administration of the two Palmito Floresta units, one in Juquiá and the other in Belém, in the state of Pará, in northern Brazil, where pupunha and assai palms are cultivated, respectively.
“Heart of palm is a high value-added product, one that is noble and tasty,” said Khalil. “Furthermore, it is used in several forms in gastronomy, from barbecue to pizza restaurants, in hot and cold dishes,” said the director at Floresta and at Palmito Seguro (Safe Heart of Palm) Institute. To prove how broad the market for the food is, Khalil says that heart of palm is also present in the cuisine of the Middle East. “Fatuche, an Arab salad recipe, for example, includes palm,” he explained.
Due to such a broad market, the company employs 250 people in São Paulo and 35 in Belém. The interior of São Paulo answers to 70% of production, estimated at three tonnes a day of the finished product, that is, packed and ready for trade. The target for 2010 is to expand business with the cultivation of 5 million palms in Juquiá. There are currently 2.5 million plants. “Pupunha palm is a renewable product, as the heart may be removed without the plant being killed,” explained Khalil.
The company plans for the foreign market involve the supply to markets that are already currently serviced by the company, like Spain and France, and the return to destinations that are no longer clients, like the Middle East. “We have sold to Lebanon before and all routes to return to this partnership are in place,” said Khalil. If it is up to the executive, who travels to Lebanon every year to visit friends and relatives, this should not take long to happen.
*Translated by Mark Ament
