São Paulo – The Brazilian fruit grower and distributor company Moxx ships melon and mango to the United Arab Emirates and should see a considerable increase in sales in Q4 this year. Thus far, the fruit arrive in Dubai by air, but according to one of the company’s owners, Andrei Mamede, they should start being transported by ship starting in October, allowing for larger volumes to be sold.
Presently, Moxx exports roughly half a 40-foot container of fruit per week to the Emirates, by aircraft. Via maritime transport, shipments should amount to 2 containers of melon and 1 conatiner of mango each week. The company, headquartered in Fortaleza, the capital of the state of Ceará, is testing fruit varieties that take longer to mature, enabling the new transport mode to be used on shipping product to the Middle East.
“The port of Dubai (Jebel Ali) is highly effective, the cargo does not stand still,” says Mamede regarding the viability of shipping as perishable a product as fruit to the Emirates by sea. The businessman is still looking into which Brazilian port he will use for shipping: Pecém, in the state of Ceará, Suape, in Pernambuco, or the Port of Salvador, in Bahia. As for the air freight options available from Brazil to the United Arab Emirates, he says he has found Emirates Sky Cargo to be the most efficient.
Moxx is a young company. It was established last year and the initial plan was to operate as an export-import company only. At present, the company is also active in production, since it has purchased and leased land to grow fruit. The company sells mango, melon and grape. Approximately 60% of output is supplied by third parties, and 40% originates from Moxx’s two proprietary farms, spanning a combined 575 hectares, in the municipality of Casa Nova, in Bahia. In addition to the headquarters in Fortaleza, the company owns an office in Germany. The company sells product under the brands San Blas and Fit Fruit.
The company’s business is 90% foreign-oriented. Grape accounts for the bulk of domestic sales. Overseas, Moxx sells to Portugal, Spain, Poland, Emirates and France, according to Mamede. In the off-season, 1 container of mango and grape and four containers of melon are shipped each week. During the crop season, five containers of mango and two containers of grape are shipped per week.
Mamede thoroughly believes in the Middle East’s buying potential for Brazilian fruit. Prior to establishing Moxx, the executive worked for another company in the industry, and thus became aware of the demand in the region. “I have always believed, I have always known of the development rate of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain,” he says. Moxx’s first sale ever went to Dubai, where the businessman already had business contacts. “I care and respect the Middle East market a lot, due to the volume and the openness to trade that it has shown towards us.”
According to the executive, as a result of the large international community living in Dubai, the standards required are similar to those of Europe, i.e. fruit with pristine rind and high sugar content. Mamede believes that, apart from Dubai, there is potential for selling his products in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and even Iraq and Iran, the latter being a non-Arab country located in the Middle East.
Mamede was born in Brazil and is of Saudi ascent.
Moxx
Website: www.moxx.com.br
Telephone: +55 (85) 3261 2771
Email: moxx@moxx.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
