São Paulo – Jazam, a candy manufacturing company in the city of Pompéia, in the state of São Paulo, wants to expand its business in the Arab market. It already sells to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen, which ranks among its main foreign markets. Now, the company is looking to enter new countries, such as those in North Africa.
“We want to conquer new markets, such as Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia,” says the export manager Adriano Gabaldi. To go after these new clients, Jazam is participating for the first time in the Algiers International Fair (FIA), due from May 30 to June 5 in Algeria.
According to Gabaldi, Jazam decided to go to the FIA because it has been placed orders from countries in the region. “It is a potential market. The Arab market is growing a lot. We are aiming for Arab Africa and the Middle East. The idea is to gradually expand,” he says.
Trade shows, by the way, are important to Jazam’s business with the Arabs. It was via Gulfood, the leading food industry fair in the Middle East, that the company reached its clients in the region. Jazam went to the fair twice, in 2010 and 2011, and wants to take part in the next edition, in 2013. The company also attends other food fairs around the world, such as Sial Paris, in France; ISM, in Germany; and the Sweet & Snacks Expo, in the United States.
Gabaldi emphasizes that Arabs enjoy typical Brazilian sweets. ”They favour the more regional products, such as pingo de leite (milk-based candy) and pé de moleque (made from groundnuts and jaggery). They prefer these over chocolate because these are different products,” he explains.
Currently, Jazam produces 3 tonnes of sweets each month, including hazelnut cream, pé de moleque, chocolate bars, bonbons with fillings, chocolate drops and others. Approximately 3 tonnes of production is exported, but the company wants more. “This year we want to increase our export revenues by 20%,” says the manager. Jazam posts total annual revenues of around 80 million reals (US$ 39.2 million).
The main market for Jazam is Venezuela, followed by Yemen, Colombia and Cuba. Established in 1968, Jazam has 320 employees.
Contact
Jazam
Tel.: +55 14 3405-2005
Email: adriano@jazam.com.br
Site: www.jazam.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
