Geovana Pagel
São Paulo – Apart from using state of the art technology, and being creative in producing quality and innovative packages, Brazil currently produces most of the raw material necessary for the industry, including paper, aluminium, steel, and resin made out of petroleum. Of the 20 largest packaging industries in the world, 17 have factories in the country.
In 2003, the sector had an estimated turnover of around US$ 7.8 billion, and the forecasts is for a 10% increase this year, rise to around US$ 8.5 billion by the end of the year.
Last year, packaging export rose 33% in comparison to the previous year. Export jumped from US$ 136 million, in 2002, to US$ 180.9 million in 2003. "When you add technology, raw material, and favourable exchange rates, the result is an increase in export and sector growth," stated Fábio Mestriner, president of the Brazilian Packaging Association (Abre).
"Our industry, and the design sector which completes it, has already reached international levels. We have technology, quality, and innovations capable of putting Brazilian products in competition on the most demanding of foreign markets. We export packages all over the world, mainly to countries in the Mercosur, the United States, Europe, and Africa," explained Mestriner.
The businessman also stated that industries are seeking innovation to make packages more efficient, functional, and attractive. Every time one of them finds a successful solution, it gains greater market participation, obliging competitors to move so that they are not left behind.
"This has made the Brazilian packaging industry into an excellent technological and innovative sector where the release of new solutions does not cease," he guaranteed.
Exporting packed products, with greater added value, the packaging industry collaborates with the growth of the Brazilian economy. According to Mestriner, in 2002 Abre supported the establishment of an Export Committee promoting sector participation in international fairs. "Last year we travelled to Africa and Spain," he explained.
Text in Arabic
According to the Abre president, Brazilian packed products are also gaining ground on the Arab market. "Various specialized companies are already developing specific packages, with text in Arabic," he explained.
Company Packing, from the city of São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil, specialized in the design of packages, has already developed special layouts for customers starting to sell to the Arab countries, among them Marilan Biscoitos, a biscuit producers, and juice maker Sucos Del Valle.
Packing operations director José Arnaldo Mota explained that language was the largest worry of the team that developed the packages. "We had to outsource translation from Portuguese to Arabic, and were very careful to guarantee that the translator accompanied the positioning of the text on the final layout," he explained.
The company also worked on finding a translator who had lived in the Middle East, and who knew details of the Arab culture, being capable of providing hints as to the local habits and customs.
Marilan
Successful examples of products exported with packages specially designed for the market open new perspectives for Brazilian companies. Biscuit factory Marilan increased export to the Middle East by 1,000% in six months. Sales to the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Yemen, Algeria, and Libya, which began in February this year, have risen from one container a month to the current 10 containers a month.
According to Marilan foreign trade manager José Eduardo Casarin, one of the main Arab market demands is related to language. "We had to adopt an Arabic label with all product information printed on the package, and it took around two months to be developed," he explained.
Casarin also added that apart from the demands with regard to product quality, similar to that in the European Union and Canada, the Arabs are very strict with regard to prices, as there are very competitive suppliers on the local market, and some even have logistics advantages.
According to him, sales to the region are taking place through local importers and distributors and have grown way over expectations. "We did not expect sales to the Middle East to grow so much in such little time. We expected annual growth of around 20%," he explained.
Export revenues total around 2.5% of Marilan revenues. It was export that made it possible for the company to hire 200 new employees in 2003 and to increase production by 30%. The factory currently produces around 6,000 tonnes of biscuits a month.
The company
With 46 on the market, Marilan is among the four largest biscuit producers in Brazil. The company produces over 70 different products, including sweet, filled, and savoury biscuits, biscuits coated in chocolate, and toast.
Apart from their head office in Marília, in the countryside of São Paulo, the industry also has three branches with warehouses and a private delivery structure. The branches are: Belém (in the northern state of Pará), Vitória da Conquista (in the northeastern state of Bahia) and Recife (in the northeastern state of Pernambuco). The company employs 1,300 people directly, and has another 300 third party service providers.
Contact
Brazilian Packaging Association
www.abre.org.br
Marilan
www.marilan.com
