Kuwait City – Mishref Coperative Society, a co-op that owns 54 supermarkets in Kuwait, is open to selling Brazilian brands. The co-op already sells chicken and duck meat from Brazil, but may import more and other products, Mishref trade manager Greegana Rohana said.
One of the cooperative’s supermarkets was visited this Wednesday (18) by the Brazilian corporate delegation (picture above) that accompanies the visit from the minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Tereza Cristina, to Kuwait. The group was welcomed by Mishref executives, including Rohana and general manager Adel Alsorayai. On the shelves, one could find Brazilian products such as poultry by Sadia and duck meat by Villa Germânia.
Rohana explained to ANBA and the group, however, that it’s not the co-op executives that import the products that arrive at their retail outlets. As a cooperative, Mishref works with 3,000 local suppliers, which provide the retails with both local and imported items.
Rohana said the selection of foreign brands is made by those suppliers. The executive promised to help putting Brazil’s embassy to Kuwait City in touch with their main partners so that Brazil may have more room at their supermarket chains. He said that most of the items sold in the stores are locally produced, but there are some from the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, French, United States, and others.
The embassy’s Trade, Investment Promotion, Culture and Press advisor diplomat Claudia Assaf accompanied the visit. She told ANBA that the embassy already makes this effort of offering Brazilian products to Kuwait importers, but that high-profile visits such as the minister Tereza Cristina’s help getting more contacts.
“It’s important to make high-profile visits to countries like this, which despite having a quantitatively small market, is made up of high net worth people, who demand high-quality products, as Brazilian products are,” said Claudia, adding that, despite their high income, they also want a good price.
According to Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) International Relations superintendent Lígia Dutra Silva, who is also part of the delegation, it was clear that there are opportunities in Kuwait and Mishref. “It’s a small market, but a high-net-worth one. There are opportunities for products that know how to break into a market,” she said. Lígia believes that there’s potential in the co-op for fruits, because of their high prices there, and spices and nuts. “They want them already packed, with unique packages,” she said about the spices.
Rohana told ANBA that the poultry by Sadia is the number 1 in sales in Mishref supermarkets and that it’s sold for a very good price. Consumers know that it’s a Brazilian poultry, the executive says. “They really like it,” he said.
The corporate delegation accompanies the minister along the four Arab countries she’s visiting until Sunday (22). She has already been through Egypt, Saudi Arabia and, after Kuwait, she’ll go to the United Arab Emirates. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce is part of the delegation, as well as Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA), Federation of Muslim Associations of Brazil (FAMBRAS) and other institutions and companies such as JBS, Marfrig, Granja Faria, Master Boi, Cdial Halal, Grupo Vibra, and BRF.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
