São Paulo – Conservas Oderich, a traditional Brazilian manufacturer of meat and vegetable, preserves, spices, and fruit preserves, wants to increase its dealings with Arab countries. The company has been exporting to the Middle East for over 20 years. The main Arab importers are Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Now, Oderich is negotiating new contracts with Egypt, Libya and Algeria, Arab countries located in North Africa.
"We firmly believe that sales to the region should grow, and are taking a few actions to that end, mostly with regard to these three countries (Egypt, Libya and Algeria)," said the companys’s export manager, Paulo Kayser de Souza.
According to him, the importance of the Arab market for the company is such that in 2003, Oderich developed specific products for the region, such as hummus (mashed chickpeas with sesame oil), babaganoush with tahini (eggplant cream with sesame oil) and foul madamas (fava bean). All are produced at a factory in São Sebastião do Caí, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
"We prepared ourselves to meet the local habits, with quality and competitiveness. We have made lots of research until we met the local standards," says the manager. According to Souza, the Arab countries hold much promise for the product line, due to the profile of its consumers, and the friendship and congeniality that have been built over years of interaction.
Presently, the main products in the company’s export basket are canned beef, beef and chicken fiambre, and canned sausages. Exports in general account for 25% of the company’s revenues. Foreign sales are either made directly or through distributors. Oderich participates in trade fairs in Brazil and abroad, such as Sial, in Paris, and Anuga, in Cologne, Germany.
A family business with 100% national capital, Oderich was founded in 1908. Currently, it has three food preserve factories in the cities of São Sebastião do Caí and Pelotas, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and in the city of Orizona, in the state of Goiás. It also has a metallic package factory in the city of Eldorado do Sul, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which supplies the steel cans used at production units.
Oderich generates 2,300 direct jobs and produces over 200 different products, such as meat, vegetable, and fruit preserves, sauce, pickles, tomato products and mayonnaise. Annual production capacity exceeds 100,000 tonnes of food, and 300 million packages. The fruit and vegetables are produced by more than 2,000 grower families that have a partnership with Oderich.
Contact
Telephone: (+55 51) 3635 1609
E-mail: comercioexterior@oderich.com.br
Site: www.oderich.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
