São Paulo – The 34th edition of the leading supermarket industry expo in South America, APAS Show, began this Monday (7) at São Paulo’s Expo Center Norte, featuring president Michel Temer, São Paulo state governor Márcio França, São Paulo mayor Bruno Covas, Finance minister Henrique Meirelles and the chairmen of the São Paulo Supermarkets Association presidentes da (APAS), Pedro Celso Gonçalves, and of the Brazilian Supermarkets Association (Abras), João Sanzovo Neto.
Temer said “supermarkets are like a thermometer of how the economy is going, and major national production chains converge into the industry.” According to him, “supermarket sales were up over 2% in quarter one this year, and this is the best result for the quarter in five years.” Temer also said “the industry can get ready to see sales increase more and more, since confidence in the economy is back. Brazil, despite all its struggles, is back on growth track.”
The authorities and executives discussed the industry and Brazil’s economic scenario. The APAS chairman said supermarkets account for 5.4% of GDP at this time and supply 89% of the population. “This year we have 738 exhibitors, 200 of which come from nineteen different countries, making this the biggest edition ever,” said Gonçalves. Nineteen Arab exhibitors are featured in a pavilion organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
Gonçalves also said that the last time around, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) arranged 1,153 meetings, and this is expected to increase by 10% this year, leading to over USD 100 million worth of deals.
This year the show is themed “We Love Supermarkets.” Abras’ chairman lauded the presidential decree naming the industry as essential to the economy and called on the president to reconsider the sale of over-the-counter medication at supermarkets. In his address, Temer said he would look into the matter.
Sanzovo Neto said people are buying less due to the economic crisis, and the challenge facing the industry is to win them over. “We are making changes to the industry, and technological projects are underway to bring in more and more buyers.”
Bruno Covas mentioned that supermarkets account for 200,000 direct jobs in the São Paulo state capital alone.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum