Middle Eastern food service companies are eagerly awaiting the latest edition of “Flavours from Brasil”, a prestigious trade show featuring Brazilian food products, which is being organised by Apex-Brasil, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, at the Intercontinental Hotel – Festival City, Dubai from February 21 to 22, 2009.
The event will showcase products that can meet the diverse needs of the region’s thriving food service Market. IFP Emirates has coordinated with Apex-Brasil on the selection of around 40 Brazilian companies to highlight their offerings to potential Arab customers during a special business roundtable.
Juarez Leal, Project Manager, Flavours from Brasil said: “Brazil is one of the top food exporters to the Arab World. Most of its food products are certified by Cibal Halal, the Brazilian Islamic Centre for Halal Food Stuff Association, so regional consumers are assured that the products they consume meet Islamic standards. As one of the most popular travel destinations in the world, the Middle East is under increasing pressure to meet the volume and quality demands of sectors such as hospitality that rely heavily on food service. As one of the top three food exporters of the world, Brazil is well-equipped to fulfil this need.”
The Middle East’s food service market is worth an estimated USD 31 billion annually, with Gulf States maintaining a USD 9.5 billion share. The UAE alone accounts for USD 3 to 4 billion of this rapidly expanding market. Around 90 per cent of the region’s food needs are imported, which provides numerous opportunities for major international food producers.
Flavours from Brasil will introduce a program which will allow around 50 food traders from Brazil to set up shelves displaying their products for a year in major Middle Eastern supermarkets. Businessmen who commit to USD 1 million in purchases of Brazilian products may avail of as much as USD 100,000 worth of promotional activities.
“While the Arab markets are more or less familiar with many of our food products, a lot more are waiting to be explored, from our wide variety of fruits to our world-famous gourmet coffees. Flavours from Brasil will allow us to showcase a multitude of new products that have been processed in an environmentally-friendly manner. There are so many of Brazil’s agricultural resources that the region has yet to taste, which we are very eager to reveal,” concluded Bassel Amaneddine, General Manager, IFP Emirates.
