São Paulo – Next week, Amma Chocolate should deliver its first load of chocolate to a shop in Kuwait. The shipment totals 280 kilograms of organic chocolate produced in the state of Bahia.
The client, shop Red Mango, is part of a chain of shops that produces yoghurt and ice cream, as well as selling chocolate. The opportunity of selling to the Arabs materialised because Amma already sells to Red Mango shops in South Korea.
According to Diego Badaró, the company owner, sales to Kuwait may be just the first to the Middle East. "They (the owners of Red Mango) are opening another shop, in Qatar, and should inaugurate one more in Abu Dhabi," he said.
With this, he believes that it is possible to expand business in the region. "It is a promising market. Our chocolate is pure, with high levels of cocoa, but without the use of preservatives and dyes. People are very interested in this kind of product, so we greatly believe in that market."
According to the businessman, the shop in Kuwait should make regular purchases from Amma, and expectations are for sales to the Arab importer to reach five tonnes of chocolate a year.
In 2010, the company exported 50% of its 20 tonne produce. Currently, Amma sells to the United States, South Korea, Australia and China. The main clients are the North Americans, but Badaró forecasts a change in this scenery. "I believe that, in a short while, Red Mango may take the lead, as they are expanding their chain."
With installed capacity of 400 tonnes of chocolate, Amma production should reach 60 tonnes this year, of which 60% should be shipped abroad. Amma organic certification is by Imo Control, from Switzerland, and is valid both for the chocolate factory, which started producing in large scale in March last year, and for the company’s six farms, which cover an area of 600 hectares of cocoa and native forest.
"We are one of the only two [chocolate] producers in the world who control from the production process [of cocoa] to the final product. That grants us full control of all phases." Amma chocolates are produced in tablets with 30% to 85% of cocoa.
Badaró does not reveal Amma revenues, but says that the company is small. At its farms, the group has 30 fixed employees and may increase the total to 100 at crop time. The factory in Salvador, in turn, has 20 collaborators.
Contact
Amma Chocolate
Tel.: (+55 71) 3246-1000
E-mail: chocolate@ammachocolate.com.br
Site: www.ammachocolate.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament