{"id":412537,"date":"2026-06-16T11:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=412537"},"modified":"2026-06-16T11:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:27:12","slug":"atemoya-wins-over-saudi-consumers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/atemoya-wins-over-saudi-consumers\/","title":{"rendered":"Atemoya wins over Saudi consumers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Atemoyas grown by Japanese descendants in the countryside of Brazil’s S\u00e3o Paulo state are now reaching the Saudi market through a company based in Brusque, Santa Catarina state. This operation\u2014bringing together different origins, languages, and an exotic fruit\u2014is coordinated by Adilson Neves, owner of Multipla Comex<\/a>. Founded in August 2020, the company began by exporting more traditional fruits, such as mangoes and papayas, to established Brazilian trade partners including Spain and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Atemoya
Atemoya is a hybrid of sugar apple and cherimoya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

With expertise in business management and a course in International Negotiation from the University of Michigan in the United States, he had just returned to Brazil when he decided to take on the challenge of exporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI chose to establish an export trading company to focus on small Brazilian producers who have no experience with export procedures,\u201d says Neves, who began his professional career as a journalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, his company exports to Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany, as well as to Qatar, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started by exporting mangoes and Formosa papayas. At that time, we shipped by sea to Qatar and Kuwait, as I met Lebanese businessman Mohammed Amiri and we began handling mango exports through the ports and airports of Jeddah, Dubai, Qatar, and Kuwait,\u201d Neves says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, he realized there was strong competition in more traditional fruit categories and shifted his focus to exotic fruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started doing research and was invited to join a program run by Brazil\u2019s National Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) in partnership with ApexBrasil. We were the only export trading company participating because of our commitment to supporting small producers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ApexBrasil is Brazil\u2019s trade and investment promotion agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, he began studying exotic fruits and exporting persimmons to Canada. \u201cI enjoyed the experience, but I was still missing the Middle Eastern market, which I had always dreamed of serving,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his research, he met a Syrian Arab who introduced him to his current client, Mandouh Baziad, based in Jeddah. That marked the beginning of a partnership that has now lasted three years and involves shipments of red guava, loquat, plum, kumquat, and atemoya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latter was introduced after he learned that Spanish cherimoya was already popular in the Saudi market. He then encouraged his client to introduce Brazilian atemoya to Arab consumers, as atemoya is a hybrid of sugar apple and cherimoya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe result was immediate: the Arab market loved the exotic appeal of the Brazilian fruit,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Kumquat
Kumquat is one of the fruits exported<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The beginning was not easy. Arab customers are known for being demanding, which required him to learn more about proper ripening, fruit sizing, certifications, packaging methods, and protective handling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut we overcame those challenges, and everything became easier because I chose Japanese Brazilian growers in S\u00e3o Paulo, due to their proximity to Guarulhos Airport, which is our hub in Brazil for commercial flights. Most importantly, Arab buyers place a high value on quality and are very honest, while also constantly seeking new varieties of exotic fruits,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years after beginning regular exports to Saudi Arabia, Neves says he has built an excellent relationship with his clients. He quickly learned the Arab way of negotiating and building relationships, including respect for the Muslim faith and the importance of personalized service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the conflict in the region, Neves also had to remain flexible and adapt to challenges ranging from changes in shipping dates to developing new packaging solutions. As several airlines suspended operations in the region, leaving only two carriers with the highest freight rates, competitiveness declined. The solution was to reduce the cost per kilogram by switching to lighter packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArab buyers like everything to be clearly explained. They value honesty, good service, and being treated as a priority. My relationship with them is of the highest level: I send technical data sheets in Arabic and make an effort to find the right words and expressions to use. The result is that they appreciate my approach, praise me all the time, and are always grateful for the partnership,\u201d says the exporter, who will be in Campinas in July to welcome an Arab delegation attending an event in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read also<\/em>:
Arab exporters bring fruit to S\u00e3o Paulo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Report by D\u00e9bora Rubin, in collaboration with ANBA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Supplied<\/div>
Supplied<\/div>
Supplied<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Founded in August 2020, Multipla Comex specializes in exotic fruits such as loquat, plum, and atemoya, and now exports Brazilian fruit to Qatar, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2309,"featured_media":412522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[57120,57121,9561,57116,48585,57123,57118,57119,57122,9595],"class_list":{"0":"post-412537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business-opportunities","8":"tag-adilson-neves-2","9":"tag-atemoya-2","10":"tag-exports-en","11":"tag-kumquat","12":"tag-lebanon-2","13":"tag-loquat","14":"tag-multipla-comex","15":"tag-plum-2","16":"tag-red-guava-2","17":"tag-saudi-arabia-en"},"wps_subtitle":"Founded in August 2020, Multipla Comex specializes in exotic fruits such as loquat, plum, and atemoya, and now exports Brazilian fruit to Qatar, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2309"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412537"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":412542,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412537\/revisions\/412542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}