São Paulo – The homemade recipe of the traditional cheese bread from Minas Gerais is finding its way to other languages. Located in Contagem, Minas Gerais state, the company Seu Ninico has already sent samples of its cheese breads to the United Arab Emirates and Canada and is holding negotiations with these markets and the United States for its first exports contract.
The decision to seek international markets was made only last year, since it was founded, six years ago, Seu Ninico has export plans. After establishing itself in the domestic market with a different product, since it doesn’t make use of preservatives or flavoring, the company decided to explore this new business front.
Felipe Dolabela, Planning and New Business director of the company, explained that, last year, all the red tape procedures were followed so the company can start to sell abroad.
“We used 2016 to set the stage. We had help from a lot of organizations, but the business contacts were made based on our own network. We sent two sample loads, one to the United Arab Emirates, and other to Canada, to distributors that we know,” said the director, who is also a partner at Seu Ninico.
Preventing the signing of a contract are the logistics costs, according to Dolabela. “Our product is frozen, so we need to send a large load to be able to pay the costs,” he explained.
The barriers don’t discourage Dolabela, who assures that they are doing more than just take advantage of a favorable exchange rate, that they are establishing an exports policy to diversify markets and manage risks to the still small business – in all, putting together management and operational departments, Seu Ninico employs around 50 people.
“There is a time for everything. It’s not a short or medium-term strategy, we are thinking long term. We spend six years consolidating the company’s position in the domestic market and we believe that we are facing a good moment to begin exports. Seu Ninico was founded with an internationalization plan: we want to bring the original cheese bread to the whole world,” he explained.
The cheese bread produced in Contagem follows the homemade recipe of Mr. Ninico, the grandfather of one of the partners, and don’t make use of hydrogenated fat, preservatives or artificial flavoring. “What we produce is the homemade cheese bread, but in an industrial plant and in a large scale,” says Dolabela. The product comes in many sizes and shapes and is distributed to cafes, bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, catering services, parties and micro distributors, among others.
Dolabela didn’t disclose the company’s revenues, but assured that, even with the country facing a difficult scenario, revenues increased last year. “A little less than expected, but it increased,” said the director.
Contact info
Seu Ninico
Website: http://www.seuninico.com.br/
Phone: + 55 (31) 3441-5872
email: felipe.dolabela@seuninico.com.br
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
