São Paulo – Olive oil producers and exporters from Tunisia are participating this week in the APAS Show retail fair in São Paulo, seeking potential clients in Brazil, including distributors and retailers. The companies are featured in two stands organized by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) at the event. Four out of the five companies in the business delegation are also receiving from the Tunisia Export Promotion Center (CEPEX).
Kawthar Chatti Louedi, responsible for brand development at the olive oil manufacturer Rivière D’Or (“River of Gold” in French), says that the company’s first participation in the APAS Show was in 2018. The company returned in 2023 and again this year. It had been exporting to Brazil before its first visit to the country. “We started doing business with Brazil after the Gulfood fair,” she said, referring to the largest food and beverage fair in the Middle East, held annually in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Tunisian olive oil differs from European products
The olive oil produced in Tunisia, she says, is different from products from Spain and Portugal, which are widespread in Brazil. Tunisian olive oil’s taste, she says, is more similar to Italian and Greek oils’.
Louedi’s goal at the APAS Show is to find potential customers for Rivière D’or who can purchase and resell it nationwide. “Our competitors’ products are good, but what makes us stand out is that since we’re a family-owned business, we control the entire production process, from the tree to the bottling of the olive oil. We also submit our olive oil to tests by a laboratory certified by the International Olive Council (IOC),” she says.
Louedi believes that Rivière D’Or can be positioned in the Brazilian market as a product and even as a gift. For this reason, in addition to the product itself, the company invests in packaging.
Also betting on the national market is the CEO of Bizerta Agri Industry, Amine Sifaoui. He is participating in the APAS Show at the ABCC’s booth, but without the partnership of CEPEX. Like Louedi, he started exporting to Brazil, still in small quantities, based on connections made at international trade fairs.
In addition to Gulfood, he says he made s with national distributors at editions of Anuga in Cologne, , and SIAL in Paris, . He is now looking to showcase his product at APAS Show and based on the s he makes at the fair, boost exports to Brazil.
“It’s great to be here with this group [of companies]. We’re discovering companies and s from different regions of Brazil,” he said. “Once we started working with the Brazilian market, we saw APAS Show as an opportunity to showcase [our products]. And to make it a habit. We’ll find distribution chains, supermarket networks,” he said.
The company is showcasing the Oilyssa brand of olive oils at APAS Show, but Sifaoui says that they can also offer high-quality products at competitive prices. Price, he says, depends on the of a negotiation, but he is excited about the recent announcement by the Brazilian government regarding the exemption of import taxes on olive oil.
Another Tunisian olive oil company at the show is Al Jazira. The company’s export manager, Amine Bem Hassine, says the company is investing in the Brazilian market due to its size and consumption potential. According to him, the company aims to find a local distributor.
Sales managers of Baya Olive Oil, Soulaima Mallouli and Rahma Ben Younes are bringing the company to APAS Show for the second time after its debut in 2023. Their goal is to increase sales of the company’s two olive oil brands and raise annual shipments to two containers of each brand to Brazil. “We want to export more to Brazil, and APAS Show is a great opportunity to find people interested in olive oil,” Mallouli said. On Friday (16), the Tunisian companies will participate in a tasting session for invited guests. The event will take place at the headquarters of the ABCC in São Paulo, where processed foods made from olive oils and dates will be offered.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda