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Brazil targets over $415 million in business at Gulfood

The traditional participant of the fair is a consolidated partner in the region expects to generate more than $415 million in business

Brazil showcases the best in their beverage and food exports bringing 114 companies to the 26th edition of Gulfood, which was inugurated at Dubai World Trade Centre on Sunday.

South American nation, which has been participating in the world’s largest F&B exhibition for over seven years, will be focusing on showcasing the healthy dessert açaí. The national pavilion is decorated with motifs of the fruit and tasting of the product, specially customized by a Brazilian chef. Brazil is one of the largest producers and exporters of açaí in the world.

“We arrive at the Gulfood with 114 companies and two daily cooking shows. Being the traditional participant of the fair taking place in Dubai, we are a consolidated partner in the region and expect to generate more than $415 million in business,” Lucas Fiuza, business director of ApexBrasil, said.

The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) is bringing 67 companies, out of these 114 participants present in the national, beverage, grain, meat and chicken pavilions. Another 30 are taken by the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA), with whom the agency develops the international promotion of the sector; and another 17 are brought by the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries (ABIEC), with whom the agency also promotes the internationalisation of the sector.

“Dubai is a commercial hub for the Middle East for its strategic location and business environment. Individually, the UAE jumped from 22nd place among Brazil’s top buyers in 2017 to 15th place in 2019, with a 1.34 per cent share of the total $1.35 billion,” Fiuza said.

“In addition to attracting thousands of buyers from around the world, Gulfood presents the main market trends in food and beverages, mobilizing, in particular, opinion makers and specialized media from the Arabian market,” he added.

A greater diversification

Of the total exported food products of Brazil in 2019, about 90 per cent contemplate the sectors of meat, sugar and alcohol complex, cereals and soy complex. This proves a high concentration in these products and validates the need for a greater diversification and support to other sectors such as coffee, fruits, processed foods, sweets and beverages.

In addition, the national pavilion space will have two daily cooking shows with the Brazilian chef Bruno Ambar. At the beverages pavilion, there will be a special menu of mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails) inspired by Brazilian music; coffee and drinks based on it, açaí and others.

To take advantage of Expo 2020 Dubai, ApexBrasil is also holding a cooking show with chef Thiago Castanho, who is presenting a menu with delicacies from the Amazon region at the Gulfood on February 17, establishing a bridge between the two events in which Brazil is prominently present.

To more broadly explore the opportunities that Gulfood 2022 will open to Brazilian companies, ApexBrasil is making use of the digital platform Brazil Business Match (BBM). Hosted in the BBM website, the platform serves to simplify the search and access to the Brazilian market and opens the possibility for meetings to take place between international buyers and Brazilian companies, since the match can evolve into a business meeting within the tool.

The virtual environment has another advantage for Brazilian exhibitors: a physical business card with QR code that can be distributed by the company’s representative to interested buyers visiting the fair. Thus, the contact does not necessarily need to be made at that moment. By accessing the QR code, the importer is directed to the tool so that contacts can continue to be made on the web, as well as subsequent business meetings.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com