São Paulo – São Paulo-based company Vetnil closed a deal worth US$ 20,000 with a distributing company from the United Arab Emirates during its stint in the Dubai Horse Fair 2010, a trade fair geared towards products for horses, held from March 18th to 20th.
The sale was of a super premium line of nutritional supplements for high performance animals, which the company sells exclusively in Brazil, and now in the Emirates as well. According to Ana Paula Leite, veterinarian and coordinator of the Foreign Trade area at Vetnil, the market was chosen due to the high-standard treatment given to animals bred in the Arab country.
“Those are high performance, high value horses. The Emirates hosts the world’s highest paying race, which was held last week and paid US$ 10 million. We have placed a differentiated product on the market in order to cater to high-value animals,” said Ana Paula.
She explains that the company had already been at the fair in 2009, on which occasion it found an importer for its products and closed its first sales deal to the region. This year, in addition to participating at the stand, Ana Paula gave a lecture to veterinarians and breeders so as to promote the products that have been placed on the country’s market.
She also reports that importers from Qatar, Kuwait and Iran became interested in the company’s products as well, and that negotiations with these countries are already underway. According to Ana Paula, the company expects to sell US$ 300,000 a year in the Gulf countries.
The fair resulted in other opportunities to the coordinator of Vetnil, such as paying a visit to the Dubai Equine Hospital, owned by the Emirati minister of Finance, Hamdam Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, getting to know stables, and visiting clients in the country.
By means of the event, the Brazilian company is also carving out a market for selling products for small animals, camels and falcons.
“The fair is surely an opportunity for entering not just the Emirates, but the entire Gulf. For those who know how to explore this relation between the Arab and the horse, the fair can only be a good deal,” says Ana Paula, underscoring the importance of the equestrian industry in the Emirates.
According to the veterinarian, even the minister of Finance stopped by the Brazilian stand to check out the company’s products. “No longer is Brazil associated with an image of a cheap product; now, the country is linked to quality.”
More business
Apart from Vetnil, three other Brazilian companies, Centralvet, Guabi and Total Alimentos, showcased their products at the Dubai Horse Fair.
The Brazilian participation was organized by the Pet & Horse Brazil Project, a partnership between the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and the (National Association of Pet Food Manufacturers (AnfalPet).
In total, the fair resulted in 110 contacts with prospective clients from the Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. As a result, US$ 680,000 in business deals are expected to be generated in the coming twelve months.
Flávia Salustiano, coordinator of the Pet & Horse Brazil Project, claims that the Brazilian participation at the event was extremely positive, and that there already are plans for returning in 2011. “Brazil is always very welcome, especially in the Emirates,” she says.
Contact
Vetnil Ind. e Com. de Produtos Veterinários Ltda.
Ana Paula Leite
Tel.: (+55 19) 3848-8500
e-mail: anapaulaleite@vetnil.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
