{"id":257694,"date":"2019-09-20T07:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T10:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=257694"},"modified":"2019-09-23T18:10:15","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T21:10:15","slug":"arabs-join-apex-fruit-industry-b2b-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/arabs-join-apex-fruit-industry-b2b-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Arabs join Apex Fruit Industry B2B event"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Mangoes, lemons, avocados, bananas, apples, grapes and papayas were exhibited last Thursday (19) at the Fruit industry Buyers Project by Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil<\/a>) at an event room in Grand Hyatt hotel in S\u00e3o Paulo. Twenty-eight exporting companies that participated sell other fruits such as figs, oranges, lychees, melons, watermelons and persimmons. Sixteen buyers from thirteen countries participated in the B2B, including three Arab companies from Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

Jordanian company Jabaly Agriculture<\/a> brought representative Baher Mustafa. For the first time in Brazil, the fresh fruit and vegetable foreign trade manager said he\u2019s optimistic with the connections he made. \u201cIt was an eye-opening event for the opportunities of Brazilian market. We visited farms and producers and have a logistic obstacle ahead of us, but we\u2019ll probably sing a deal next month,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Before the B2Bs, Apex organized visits to two producer farms, Agr\u00edcola Famosa<\/a> that grows melons and watermelons in Mossor\u00f3 and Finoagro<\/a> of mangos in A\u00e7u, both cities in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. All invited buyers participated in the visits and got to see the production process in the farms.<\/p>\n

Mustafa says that Brazilian fruits are top-class products. \u201cIf the Jordanian public likes the fruits, we plan on transporting them by plane with Qatar Airways to Doha and then Aman,\u201d he said. He told the company usually buys the product from South Africa and Europe and that the port logistics would be too complicated through Aman port since it would take around 30 to 35 days for the fruits to arrive.<\/p>\n

It was also the first time All Fresh Sal<\/a> CEO Rani Akiki from Lebanon comes to Brazil. Based in Beirut, the company buys fruits in the domestic market and Europe, especially Netherlands, and now intends to diversify. \u201cWe have a small production of mangos, avocados and grapes for around seven months per yeas in Lebanon on Beqaa Valley, and now we are thinking on buying from Brazil to complement the demand during the winter in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very rich event. We made a lot of connections and visited farms. They are huge states with large productions,\u201d said Akiki. He intends to negotiate the freight with some Brazilian companies and soon start importing fruits like mangos, papayas and lemons with Emirates or Turkish airlines. \u201cIt\u2019s more expensive, but the product arrives much fresher, since it would take around forty days by ship, which is not feasible for fruits,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe\u2019ll also assess the customs issue because we don\u2019t have a free trade agreement with Brazil,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n

(Story continues after photo gallery)<\/em><\/p>\n