São Paulo – Tunisian date producing firms seek opportunities in the Brazilian market by participating in the APAS Show, which has taken place in São Paulo since Monday (15). Five dates companies from Tunisia are exhibitors in the space organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC). Some are participating for the first time, while others were present in previous editions and have already exported to Brazil.
Abdlkrim Bouguenna, manager and owner of Golden Export, which specializes in the production of the date production, said the company has already sold to the Brazilian market and participates in this year’s APAS to win new clients and boost its business volume. This is their first time at APAS.
The volume of exports of the firm is around 4,000 tonnes per year, that is, 80% of its production. According to Bougonna, the firm exports its products to over 22 countries, particularly Eastern countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, as well as Italy, France, the United States, and Brazil.
He added that the company seeks to foster the habit of consuming Tunisian dates among Brazilians and the company also plans on entering other markets in Latin America like Argentina.
Mohamed Amine Boumaiza, Export director of Nouri, which also specializes in the production and export of Tunisian dates, said the family business inherited the craft and the production of dates from the ancestors, and the tradition is maintained to this day. He said that in 1992, the firm started exporting Deglet Nour Tunisian dates to across the world, from Australia do Canada.
According to him, the capacity production of the company is of around 4,000 tonnes, thousands of which are organic. Amin said 100% of the company’s production is exported to over 37 markets around the globe, including the Brazilian market, to which the company started selling in 2015.
He stressed the Brazilian market is as large promising market for dates from Tunisia. According to Amin, the firm has successfully reached growth rates of up to 20% a year in recent years, having now seven clients in the Brazilian market, compared to just one back in 2015.
He added that dates from Tunisia combine high quality and reasonable prices to consumers around the world. He explained the firm is participating for the first time in APAS, which is of the largest and most renowned shows in Latin America and not only in Brazil.
Mohamed Barbouche, CEO of Fadhel International Trading, which specializes in the production and export of dates, said the firm has plants in Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, as well as offices in the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, and Jordan. Its production is carried out under two commercial brands: Barari Dates Group, based in the UAE, and Fit.
The company’s annual production is estimated at around 80,000 tonnes from all Arab countries where the firm has a foothold, including 2,000 from Tunisia, from where the Arab dates are then exported to several countries around the world, particularly India, Russia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, the US, France, and other European countries.
He said the company has exported around 4 containers to Brazil through an intermediary firm in Portugal. But the experience was not as successful as they had hoped. That’s why the firm seeks to export directly to the Brazilian market.
He stressed the Brazilian market is huge and the local Arab community also represents big opportunities for Tunisian and other Arab goods.
Translated by Georgette Merkhan & Guilherme Miranda