São Paulo – The Brazilian Slaughterhouse Association (Abrafrigo) aims to increase beef exports of small and medium slaughterhouses. For such, it should promote actions like participation in international fairs, as well as aiding its associates to get the necessary authorisations to sell on global markets.
“The programme is just starting. We are going to promote actions to put more companies in the export sector,” said Péricles Salazar, president at Abrafrigo. Salazar explained that, to export, slaughterhouses initially need authorisation from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply. There are two kinds of authorisation, said the executive: the so-called “general list” allows exports to most countries in the world, whereas the European one has greater demands than those of other markets.
However, being authorised in these lists does not mean guaranteed entry into the foreign market. “Just being in the list is not enough to export,” recalled Salazar. “This guarantees you are ready for export, but does not mean you are going to do so. You have to win clients,” he pointed out.
To help in this area of market opening, Abrafrigo has included in its calendar participation in five international food fairs during 2012. The first in the list was Green Week Berlin, which took place in January, in Germany, and the second was Gulfood, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which ended on Wednesday (22). Also programmed is participation in fairs Sial China (May), World Food Moscow (September) and Sial Paris (October).
“There are some fairs that take place every year, and we take our associates to participate with us. Fairs offer us opportunities to seek new clients,” he pointed out.
According to Abrafrigo figures, of the more than US$ 5 billion in beef exported by Brazil in 2011, less than 10% came from small and medium slaughterhouses. Initially, therefore, the organisation has not made forecasts as to how much this percentage may grow in 2012, as the first objective is to start insertion of new Brazilian companies on the foreign market.
Salazar recalls that there are three large slaughterhouses in Brazil, but that medium ones may slaughter as much as 1,000 heads of cattle a day. “They are medium if compared to the large ones, but slaughter between 800 and 1,000 heads of cattle each day,” he pointed out.
Two years ago, Abrafrigo established an international department to help companies that already have training in the area to adapt their plants to export demands of specific markets. “We recently had three plants authorised to export to the Ukraine,” said Salazar. “Slaughterhouses need to modify their units to export. There are over 150 countries to which Brazil exports beef,” he said.
*Translated by Mark Ament
