Dubai – Next Tuesday (6th), Universo Tintas will deliver its first exported batch to Jordan. The paint company will soon ship a second container, and then it will not stop. Apart from the deal, closed months ago, the company wants to conquer new customers in the Middle East at the Big 5 fair, which began in Dubai this Monday (5th). “We want to show our company and see how interested they (the Arabs) get,” said Universo Tintas president Douver Martinho about the event.
The company was founded in 1943 and has exported paint in the 1990s, but then stopped shipping product to other countries. In 2010, selling to other countries became part of the plans for Universo Tintas again. Based in Diadema, in the Greater São Paulo Area, the company began exporting to Bolivia and Venezuela. Negotiations are underway with Colombia and Central American countries. The idea of selling to the Arabs came up in 2011, when the export manager Valdinei Rocha set out to study the Middle East business environment.
“About a year ago I started reading and got interested in the Arab countries. I learned that the Arabs still place value on negotiation between people. I also noticed that some countries in the region are opening up (to foreign products). As long as you are willing to do what they want you to, you’ll find a market,” said Rocha.
The company then became a member of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and went to the Project Lebanon exhibition this year. “We struck our deal with Jordan there. The first container was shipped to a trading company, but the second went directly to the end customer,” said Rocha.
Universo Tintas is one of seven Brazilian companies exhibiting their products at the country’s Big 5 booth, organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex Brazil).
In addition to regular wall paint, Universo bets on a product that is not yet widely used in retail: hygienic paint. In Brazil, it is the sole manufacturer of this variety of paint. The product is used at hospitals, because it fights the bacteria that cause widespread infection. Martinho believes the product may become more popular for household usage as well.
The company has not set sales targets for its first time at the Big 5. Still, Rocha claims he hopes to leave Dubai with at least one purchase order closed. “Each time I left Brazil (to represent the company), I returned with some news. I believe in our potential,” says Rocha.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
