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<\/a>This makes it easier for Brazilian pet product manufacturers to explore Arab markets. Brazil boasts vast expertise in the field, since almost half the homes in Brazil have dogs for pets. But the Brazilian industry also makes food and items for cats, birds, fish and all kinds of animals. \u201cBrazil is the fourth biggest market for pets in the world, so we have a good-sized production volume,\u201d says L\u00e9lis.<\/p>\n
Brazil is very strong in agriculture, which is where most pet products come from, and this gives it a head start when it comes to international markets, the coordinator explained. \u201cWe make mostly pet food, but of course, we also make all the rest,\u201d says L\u00e9lis, referring to toys, clothes, houses, etc.<\/p>\n
As per Instituto Pet Brasil numbers, 2019 saw 2.85 tons of pet food made in Brazil. Pet food is a major Brazilian export product. Last year, revenue from pet product exports came out to USD 295 million, with food accounting for 90%. According to L\u00e9lis, the bulk of exports go to Latin American countries.<\/p>\n
A market to tap into<\/strong><\/p>\n The Arab market for pet products is being targeted by the Brazilian industry lately. The UAE are one of the target-markets of an industry internationalization program from Instituto Pet Brasil and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). The UAE pet product market was discussed in a webinar hosted by the institute and featuring the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong> (ABCC) early this month.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are aware that the UAE are a launchpad into other Arab markets,\u201d said L\u00e9lis. The project has seen industry players join trade shows in the UAE in a bid to break into the market. Instituto Pet Brasil Business Intelligence coordinator L\u00e9lis notes that the organization started to look to that market about three years ago.<\/p>\n As per ABCC figures, last year saw Arab countries as a whole import USD 862 million worth of pet products \u2013 USD 7.5 million of that came from Brazil. Though not much, this was an 85% increase over 2018. The best-selling items were cat and dog food and food preparations.<\/p>\n According to L\u00e9lis, although the UAE are not as big a market as Brazil, it\u2019s an attractive one in some aspects. \u201cExpenditure per pet is very high compared with Brazil,\u201d he claims. Moreover, the market is not as concentrated, which means more space for new companies, and consumption tends to go up. The embracing of Western habits is one of the reasons why the market is expected to expand.<\/p>\n Company at home<\/strong><\/p>\n In Brazil, pet product sales have gone up during the Covid-19 pandemic \u2013 by 4% year-on-year in Q1. Marcos L\u00e9lis believes that this is a worldwide phenomenon, and one most prevalent in the places worst hit by the pandemic. \u201cPeople have stayed at home, so they wound up taking better care of their pets, and some have gotten themselves a little pet because they were lonely,\u201d he told ANBA.<\/p>\n According to L\u00e9lis, pets are deeply tied to demographics and urbanization issues. The more elderly, children and single people there are in a country, the more pets there are as well. \u201cBesides, the more urbanized a society is, the more pets it\u2019ll have,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n