São Paulo – On Monday (12), supermarket sector leaders in Brazil advocated for measures to increase consumer income and ensure labor availability for their businesses at the opening of the APAS Show 2025. The fair opened at Expo Center Norte in São Paulo, with 900 exhibitors from 22 countries and an expected R$ 16.5 billion in business deals.
The Vice President of Brazil & Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, currently acting as President of the Republic, Geraldo Alckmin, participated in the opening ceremony of the fair, discussed actions taken to improve the living conditions of Brazilians, which could boost the performance of national supermarkets, but said he took note of the sector’s requests.
Those who spoke at the opening pointed to sports betting and the offering of payroll-deducted loans secured by workers’ severance fund FGTS as causes of consumer indebtedness, which consequently reduces their purchasing power at supermarkets. The public income distribution program was also highlighted as a factor contributing to low labor availability.
Alckmin reminded that the regulation of bets has already begun, limiting their operations. “But I’ll raise the concern that we need to tighten this issue even further,” he said. Regarding payroll-deducted loans, the acting president explained that the goal is not to increase indebtedness but to improve income, allowing consumers to pay lower interest rates with the guarantee of FGTS.
Regarding employability, Alckmin said he would schedule a meeting with Erlon Ortega, president of the São Paulo Supermarket Association (APAS), João Galassi, president of the Brazilian Supermarket Association (Abras), and Wellington Dias, Minister of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger, to discuss the matter. “Five million people have already left [social welfare program] Bolsa Família because their income increased,” he said.
The acting president also mentioned government actions to the economy, investments, and consumption, such as tax exemptions on basic food products, the launch of the Development Credit Letter (LCD), a bond aimed at financing sectors like industry, commerce, and services, and exemptions on import taxes for certain imported foods whose prices have seen sharp increases.
Opening
In addition to Ortega, Galassi, and Alckmin, other officials who spoke at the opening included the Vice Governor of São Paulo, Felicio Ramuth, the Mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, and the Minister of Entrepreneurship, Microenterprise, and Small Business, Márcio França.
Present at the opening were the Ambassador of Tunisia, Nabil Lakhal, and his wife Noura Korrab, the head of the Tunisian Commercial and Consular Office in São Paulo, Hassen Saadani, the Commercial Consul of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Brazil, Islam A. Taha, as well as the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC)’s president William Adib Dib, treasurer Mohamad Abdouni Neto, and Board member William Atui.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
