São Paulo – Arco Íris wants to export its soft drinks to the Arab market. The company, headquartered in the city of São José do Rio Preto, already sells to Japan and Costa Rica and has contacts in Saudi Arabia. In the Arab country, the organisation plans to find a partner to produce the beverage with its raw material.
Ademar Watanabe, the general director at the company, explains that negotiations with the Arabs involve the sale of soft drink concentrate for production of the beverage in Saudi territory. "I offer training in Brazil so that they may learn the entire process for application there, including the commercial area."
Exports to Costa Rica are through the same system, only to Japan are the soft drinks sold ready. According to Watanabe, the product is consumed mainly by dekassegis, Brazilians of Japanese origin who migrate to the Asian nation. Every week, Arco Íris sends a 20-tonne container to Japan.
The main beverage made by the company is guarana drink Cotuba (made from a fruit of the Amazon), but Arco Íris also exports soft drinks and concentrates in the grape, orange, lemon and cola flavours. Watanabe says he wants to increase the number of importers and, for this reason, the company offers all assistance to those interested. “We provide all technical conditions. To go further, we need to find an ideal partner [in the country interested]."
He believes his beverages may be successful in the Saudi market due to the empathy the Arabs have for the Brazilians and to the benefits generated by consumption of guarana. "I see a great appeal from Brazilian guarana, which is broadly advertised abroad due to its medicinal properties," he said.
Watanabe explains that the company can increase its production to supply new export demand. The installed capacity at the factory is 10 million litres a month.
On the domestic market, Arco Íris is present in four states: São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás. With 350 employees, the company has revenues of 40 million Brazilian reals (US$ 23.8 million) a year.
Contact
Arco Íris
Tel.: (+55 17) 3206-2000
E-mail: arcoiris@cotuba.com
Site: www.cotuba.com
*Translated by Mark Ament
