Alexandre Rocha
São Paulo -Sadia, the main Brazilian chicken exporter to the Middle East, is going to participate in the Brazilian Week & Trade Exhibition, to take place between December 7 and 9 in the United Arab Emirates. The company will be participating not interested in discovering the market, as they have been exporting there for over 20 years, but in consolidating their market position.
"The event will be useful to place Brazil as a natural supplier of consumer products," states Guillermo Henderson, the Middle East and Africa international sales director who has been heading the company office in Dubai since the end of 1999.
More than increasing traditional product sales, such as chicken and sugar, Henderson believes that the Week, with added value due to the presence of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will help diversify export, adding new products. After all, one of the objectives of the presidential visit to the region is the announcement of business opportunities for Brazil.
Despite already selling a large quantity of chicken to the region, Sadia, Henderson explains, also has its eye on the introduction of new products. "It is a market whose consumption habits change very fast and, for this reason, Sadia has made pioneer product release a company characteristics," he states.
He adds that the presence of large retail chains in the region has contributed to this change in purchase habits. As an example, Henderson mentions that four years ago there was only one Carrefour store in Dubai, nowadays there are eight.
Apart from installing a stand at the event and participating in the business rounds, Sadia is also going to sponsor the Brazilian football team supporters watching the Under-20 World Cup, to start on Thursday (27) in the Emirates. The first Brazilian team game will be on November 28, against the Canadian team. "The Brazilian team is famous in the region for the quality of its football," states the executive.
Football
The company is going to mobilize Brazilians living in the Emirates, and Brazilian team sympathizers, so that they go to the games. Places for those interested will be guaranteed, and T-shirts in the team colors and with a company logo on them will be given. The company is also going to take a group of drummers to motivate the crowd, among other activities.
Henderson hopes that over 400 supporters of the Brazilian team, between Brazilians living in the country and sympathizers, will go to the first games, and that this figure will grow as the championship proceeds. "We are sponsoring the supporters so as to take emotion to the games," he states.
Last Friday the event for sponsorship in Dubai was released, and it counted on the presence of Ahmed H. Al Qathani, public relations of the International Football Federation (Fifa) in Dubai, and of the Brazilian ambassador in the Emirates, Flavio Sapha. The supporters, he says, went to the airport to receive the players.
Arab passion for football is great, so much so that representatives from companies doing business with the region usually say that the sport is a door into it.
Between January and September this year, Sadia has already exported 480,205 tons of poultry, pork, and industrialized products, totaling over US$ 640 million. The largest company buyer is Europe, where 36% of company products have been sold in the period. The Middle East comes in second, at 23.7%.
