Brazilian companies at Sweets and Snacks Expo report record sales
A total of ten Brazilian companies participating in the Sweets and Snacks Expo (SNS) trade event in Chicago, secured $2.33 million in business, with a further $9.25m expected over the next year.
The results were twice that achieved the previous year, when $1.02m of sales were made at the fair, with a further $5.1m anticipated in the following year.
Brazilian companies at the SNS were located in the Brasil Pavilion, organised by ABICAB (Brazilian Cocoa, Chocolates, Peanuts, Candies and Byproducts Industry Association), in partnership with Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency). According to the agency, the results from last month’s show were due to investments in innovation, made by Brazilian companies in order to meet the demands of increasingly selective consumers worldwide.
Allen Eisenberg, importation director for the Canadian distributor Regal Confectionery and a client of Brazilian companies for decades, offered his view on the quality of the products on display at the event.
“I’ve worked with the companies Dori, Simas and Embaré for around 30 years”, he said. “I really like Brazilians, they’re kind, attentive, competent, and the products are very good”, he said, noting that this commercial contact has already become a friendship and could even be far stronger if Canada had a free trade agreement with Brazil.
New Markets
For Riclan, business deals made at the fair have generated an expected increase of $500,000 in export revenue. The company brought new line of products to Chicago, such as sugar free hard candies in coffee, milk and fruit with vitamin C flavours.
“This year SNS was even better than the previous year in terms of the quality of visitors”, states Romualdo Silva, director of international business at Riclan. The sweets manufacturer made nine new contacts with prospective clients from countries such as Canada, Australia and the Dominican Republic, in addition to opening new markets. “We also received a company from the UK, a country we don’t yet export to, who showed great interest in our products”, Silva highlighted.
Simas, which primarily produces candies, brought new products to the fair such as the Love Pop Cotton Candy flavour lollypops in two colours, and the company managed to expand their business internationally.
“This fair helped us to make high level contacts and should provide a growth of around 20% in export volume” assesses Luiz Eduardo Simas, director of the company that exports to around 30 countries. “As a result of the fair, we should increase our exports to the USA and obtain new opportunities in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Costa Rica, Asia, the Dominican Republic and Mexico”, added Simas.
Exporting to 15 countries, Santa Edwiges, which specialises in panettones, butter biscuits and cakes, exhibited for the first time at the SNS. “We expect to increase our export revenue as a result of the contacts we’ve made in Chicago”, said Fabiano Fusco, export manager.
“One of our objectives here is to increase distribution and obtain new clients and these have been achieved”, he added. He highlights that in the US the company already has a contract with a large commercial retail chain, with around 8,400 shops.
During the fair, Brazilian companies reportedly made 317 contacts with buyers, of which 220 were new. The majority of the visitors to the Brasil Pavilion were from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, Porto Rico, Columbia, El Salvador, Argentina and Russia.
