São Paulo – Invitingly sized and high-quality fresh dates, chocolate-covered dates filled with pistachio, olive oil, and the aromatic zaatar spice. These and other delicacies were brought by Palestine to Anuga Select Brazil, a food fair that started on Tuesday (8) in São Paulo, featuring five companies from the Arab country. They are part of a booth organized by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), which also coordinates the Saudi participation in the event.
The Ambassador of Palestine to Brazil and Dean of the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben, attended the participation of his fellow countrymen at the exhibition on Tuesday at Distrito Anhembi. He told ANBA’s reporter that Palestine is always seeking new markets. “Due to the occupation, our products are heavily blocked, just as our people are. So, this opening and this space are very important to us,” he said.
Alzeben sees Brazil as a promising market for the products Palestine has to offer. According to him, Palestinian dates, for example, are known for their quality. “For us, it’s important to be in Brazil because it’s a large country, a very promising market, a friendly country, and a friendly people,” said the ambassador. Alzeben adds that Palestine already sells small volumes of dates and olive oil to Brazil and believes it will be possible to enter the Latin American market via Brazil.
One of the Palestinian companies present at Anuga is Jericho-based Palestine Date Company. The company manages 10,000 date trees in Palestine and buys dates from other farmers for selling, according to the company’s president, Ibrahim Ziad, who lives between Palestine, Brazil, and the United States. Palestine Date Company is already an exporter, serving 15 countries, including Germany, India, Indonesia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey, but has yet to sell to the Brazilian market, according to Ziad.
But the Palestinian entrepreneur is excited about the possibility of supplying Brazil with his dates due to the cut in import tariffs, which, according to him, used to be 12%. “The Brazilian market is very large,” he says, explaining why he is showcasing his company at the event.
Another Palestinian company present at the space organized by the ABCC is Emirates Delights Food, specializing in dates and all types of products made from the fruit. Additionally, it produces a range of other foods such as olive oil, halawi, tahini, zaatar, and chocolate, including pistachio-filled varieties. The dates are offered in various combinations, from chocolate-covered to stuffed with nuts and pistachios, and the company also sells date-based products such as date syrup, date sugar, date jam, among others.
The Emirates Delights Food booth caught attention at Anuga Select Brazil due to the diversity of delicious-looking products. According to the company’s Sales and Marketing Manager Tayyeb Hassan, the company has branches in Palestine, the UAE, and Jordan. It is already an exporter, but it has not yet reached Brazil. With an eye on the size of consumption in the country, the company aims to open this market for its entire range of products, according to Hassan.
In addition to the two interviewed companies, the Palestine Gardens Agricultural, Al Ard Agricultural, and Nakhell Palestine companies are also exhibiting at the Palestinian space. The country’s trade promotion association, the Palestine Trade Center, is represented and has its own space at Anuga.
Read more:
Anuga fair opens in São Paulo with Arab presence
Saudi producer wants to sell dates to Brazil
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
