{"id":174802,"date":"2018-05-09T07:00:50","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T09:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=174802"},"modified":"2018-05-08T22:30:16","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T00:30:16","slug":"arab-companies-sit-brazilian-supermarkets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/arab-companies-sit-brazilian-supermarkets\/","title":{"rendered":"Arab companies meet with Brazilian supermarkets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Manar Nasr, executive director with Egypt’s Food Export Council (FEC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 The executive director of Egypt\u2019s Food Export Council (FEC), Manar Nasr, had a meeting with Grupo P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar this Tuesday morning (8). For the first time ever, the FEC has joined APAS Show, the supermarket industry show taking place this week in S\u00e3o Paulo. During the meeting, it represented 12 out of the 13 Egyptian companies featured in the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong> pavilion in the expo.<\/p>\n

Nasr was optimistic about this initial contact and confident that business will thrive. \u201cThe Arab Chamber is providing amazing support in scheduling these meetings for us, and we expect to strike new deals here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Egypt\u2019s Commercial Consul to S\u00e3o Paulo, Mohamed Elkhatib, visited the Arab stand in the APAS Show. He said that since the Mercosur-Egypt free-trade agreement, Egyptians are investing more on exporting to Brazil. \u201cLast year, we only brought in two companies, and only one in 2016. This is the premier industry show in the region, and if everything works out we intend to bring 20 to 25 companies next year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Egyptian consul Mohamed Elkhatib<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Executives from UAE companies including Hunter Foods and Chocodate also said they had meetings this morning but declined to go into detail. UAE Consul to S\u00e3o Paulo Ibrahim Alalawi showed up at the Arab Chamber stand and said he was impressed with the expo\u2019s size. This is his first time in the APAS Show \u2013 he has only been stationed in Brazil for eight months.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrazilian goods are high quality and we want to bring more of them to the UAE. Our goods are also being met with great acceptance by Brazilians at the trade show, and next year we will surely bring even more companies from our country to the APAS Show,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sudan<\/strong><\/p>\n

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UAE consul Ibrahim Alalawi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Santos Import & Export Enterprises is the first Sudanese company to exhibit at the APAS Show. CEO Khalid Ombada expects to start selling to Brazil. \u201cSudan is the world\u2019s leading producer of gum arabica, hibiscus and senna, and we wish to start shipping direct to Brazil, which currently buys our goods from countries in Europe as well as the United States,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Gum arabica is used as a thickener and stabilizer by the food industry in making soft drinks, bonbons and hard candy. Hibiscus is a vitamin- and fiber-rich flower used in teas and juices and often associated with weight-loss diets. Senna is a plant used in treatments against constipation.<\/p>\n

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Khalid Ombada, CEO with Santos Import & Export Enterprises<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ombada, who currently lives in Sudan, spent 12 years living in Brazil. He speaks Portuguese well, and said that in addition to selling Sudanese products in Brazil, his company buys Brazilian items including electric showers by Fame and car batteries by Moura. \u201cWe are also seeking new items to bring to Sudan.\u201d This Tuesday afternoon, Ombada met with\u00a0Debora Lapa<\/a>, the exports manager with Alibra, a Brazilian manufacturer of food and beverage industry ingredients, to see its products and potentially distribute them in Sudan.<\/p>\n

At the stand<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Al Foah Company, which already has a distributor in Brazil in trading company Di Biase and Presbiteris, is also exhibiting at the Arab stand at APAS Show. The trading company\u2019s sales representative, Lucia Carlessi, said that the Abu Dhabi<\/strong>-based brand of dates-based products, entered the Brazilian market in December and has plans to expand its distribution across the country. Al Foah exports to 48 countries and, in Brazil, sells in Natal, Bras\u00edlia, Bahia, Minas Gerais and S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

From Egypt<\/strong>, Spice Home has been exporting to Brazil for four years and is attending the supermarkets trade expo for the first time. The company\u2019s owner, Zidan Abdelaziz, said that he\u2019s expecting to gain market share in Brazil this year. \u201cWe export herbs and spices in large volume to Brazilian companies that buy large packages and transfer the product to smaller packages to resell to supermarkets,\u201d he explained<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n