São Paulo – The Brazilian biscuit industry should launch next month an event to improve the image of the Brazilian product abroad and to help companies better prepare for sales abroad. The initiative is by the Brazilian National Biscuit Industry Association (Anib) and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), which plans to promote an action during the São Paulo State Supermarket Association (Apas), from May 6th to 9th, at the Expo Center Norte, in São Paulo.
The Arab market will also be the focus of the project, as the campaign will be taken to fairs abroad, including Gulfood, which takes place each year in Dubai and in which Anib participates.
The companies in the sector used to use the “Brazilian Biscuits” brand but will start using “Happy Goods”, with slogan “Baked in Brazil”. Creation of the new concept came from technical studies and from the understanding that this brand and slogan show what the segment is. The international project manager at Anib, Fernando Maruyama, recalls that Brazilians are recognized as a happy people and that the product also brings joy. “When you eat biscuits, you get happy. Nobody had made use of this concept yet,” said Maruyama.
The definition came from a better understanding of the Brazilian industry in the sector and its mission, products and properties, as well as from the reasons for which some distributors do not buy them. The sector currently includes not just producers of sweet and savoury biscuits, but also those of cookies, wafers and Panettones, among others. With this, the previous brand “Brazilian Biscuits” would no longer fit.
The objective is to show, with the campaign, that Brazil has quality biscuits. And, in fact, the slogan and brand will only be used on the products of companies that prove that they are ready for export. A committee, also established by factories, should define these criteria, which should include items like experience in the foreign market, trilingual site and quality of products. Companies that are not prepared to export will be helped by Anib to reach this level.
Apart from taking the new concept to fairs, Anib should support Brazilian brands in actions in points of sale abroad. These initiatives have already been developed by the association with the factories and their distributors in each country. Last year, for example, there was an activity turned to Bauducco Panettone in the United States and to the Marilan product in Angola. Now these initiatives are going to carry the “Happy Goods” concept and slogan “Baked in Brazil”.
It will be the Arab world, it will be up to the Anib and its committee to decide whether this kind of action should be developed once it has been decided whether companies in the sector are ready to supply that market. Maruyama said that participation in the Gulfood and in business roundtables promoted by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce showed that many companies are well prepared to sell in the region, even having packages in Arabic. According to the Anib, the sector exported US$ 139 million in 2012, with growth of 6% over 2011. Figures disclosed by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade showed that the Arabs bought US$ 2.4 million, with a reduction over the previous year, when exports to the region had totalled US$ 3 million.
*Translated by Mark Ament
