São Paulo – Company Novo Mel, from São Paulo, has just signed an agreement for its second organic honey sale to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The shipment took place this week, through the Port of Santos, and was to an organic product supermarket chain in the emirate.
The first order was closed in May last year, but the shipment was only possible in December, as product registration took four months. “We suffered a little due to bureaucracy, but this second shipment shows that we are on the right route,” said Carlos Rehder, who is responsible for company exports.
“We are working on signing long-term contracts and on exporting packed honey, with higher added value, which is a more complicated process than closing sporadic sales of honey in bulk,” he said. "We already have another two hot contacts in the region and, if it all works out, we should sign new contracts this year,” said Rehder.
According to him, the contact with the first Arab distributor was made through the Foreign Trade department at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. “Exporting honey to the Arab market is hard. You must develop the product, gain the trust of importers and not be in a hurry to sell,” explained Rehder.
Novo Mel has already participated in two editions of the Gulfood, a food sector fair that takes place in Dubai, and made use of the opportunity to visit importers. The company products are already sold in three organic product supermarkets in the emirate, one of them at Dubai Mall, the largest local shopping centre.
The company processes between five and seven tonnes of honey a month, employs 15 people and trades several flavours, like eucalyptus, wildflower and orange. To Dubai, shipments include wildflower and eucalyptus honey.
Of total company production, around 10% is turned to the foreign market. According to Rehder, the target is for this figure to reach 50% in five years. Apart from the Emirates, Novo Mel exports to the United States, Canada, Angola, China, Singapore, Japan and Mexico. Raw material is purchased from beekeepers and is processed by the factory.
Rising
According to figures disclosed on Monday (26) by the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), Brazil exported 2,400 tonnes of honey in March, with revenues of US$ 6.92 million. With regard to the previous month, these figures represent growth of 92% in volume and 96% in revenues. The average price paid for the product was record, US$ 2.87 per kilogram, growth of 2.1% over the previous month and 19.6% in comparison with March last year.
The United States were the main destination for exports, answering to over half the total revenues. Germany was the second market and the United Kingdom the third.
According to the Sebrae national beekeeping coordinator, Reginaldo Rezende, the continued growth of exports verified since the end of 2009 took place due to low international stocks. “For the third year running, Argentine production should be negatively affected due to the drought that is already affecting 90% of these countries. In 2009, the USA had their worst honey crop in history, less than 55,000 tonnes,” he explained.
São Paulo was the Brazilian state that exported the largest volume, followed by Rio Grande do Sul, Ceará and Piauí.
Contact
Novo Mel
Site: www.novomel.com.br
E-mail: novomel@novomel.com.br
Telephone: (+55 11) 3721-5693
*Translated by Mark Ament
