São Paulo – Since it came into force in 2017, the Mercosur-Egypt free trade agreement has benefited mutual trade. At least two exhibitors from the Arab country that participated in the APAS Show in São Paulo earlier this week said their sales and presence in the Brazilian market result from this partnership.
A partner at Egypt’s leading frozen food brand Delta Brothers, Mostafa Salah said that Egypt has an extensive knowledge in agriculture, as it has grown various crops for 7,000 years. In addition to its productive capacity, Salah says the agreement with Mercosur has been crucial for Egypt’s frozen foods to reach Brazil at competitive prices. Chile and China, two leading exporters to Brazil, he said, don’t compete in the Brazilian market as strongly as they did before due to the benefits that the agreement with Mercosur has given Egypt.
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“Demand has grown. There are fries in nearly every dish, sales of [frozen] strawberries from Egypt to Brazil have doubled in volume year after year. And 2025 will be the year of [frozen] vegetables,” he says.
Agreement with Mercosur lead sales to double
Oriental Fruits general manager Wael Soliman sees the company’s exports to Brazil grow year after year. Their first shipment to the country was in 2022, following their participation at the APAS Show. Seventy-five tonnes of garlic and 50 tonnes of frozen strawberries were exported to Brazil that year. In 2023, 700 tonnes of garlic and 300 tonnes of frozen strawberries came. By August, Soliman expects 1,000 tonnes of frozen strawberries and 700-1,000 tonnes of garlic.
“These results are due to the agreement with the Mercosur. And because the Brazilian market is very large, with a lot of consumers. We have a golden window with garlic because the Mercosur agreement allows us to compete with China. This would be impossible otherwise,” he said. “This year’s APAS Show is busier, with more people and more area. We hope this translates into more sales, too,” he said.
Delta Brothers and Oriental Fruits were two of the companies participating in the two stands organized by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) at the APAS Show. Other companies from Egypt, as well as from Lebanon, Tunisia, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates were featured in the stands.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
