In order to increase coffee exports from Brazil, the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association (ABIC) are going to invest 24.084 million Brazilian reais (US$ 10.3 million) in activities to promote the Brazilian product aboard between 2008 and 2010.
The new project is turned to countries that have high potential for coffee purchase.
Among the activities to be organized are Brazilian Gastronomic Weeks in renowned restaurants in South America, Asia and Europe, where typically Brazilian foods should be served, together with the sampling of Brazilian coffee.
Currently, the United States is the main market for the Brazilian product, responsible for 70% of coffee exports. The idea behind the project is to promote coffee in countries like Panama, Chile, Turkey, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Argentina, Chile, Portugal, Spain, France, Poland and Germany, among others.
The first country to receive a group or Brazilian chefs should be Chile, where the World Congress of the World Association of Chefs Societies should take place.
Coffee should also be promoted by a team of coffee experts, the Brazilian Coffee Team, which should serve several kinds of drinks using the product, all to win the taste buds of new consumers.
According to the president of the Apex, Alessandro Teixeira, in a press statement released by the organization on November 24, this is the moment to seed in the global market the image of Brazil as a producer and processor of excellent quality coffee.
According to figures supplied by the ABIC, Brazil is the main global producer of coffee, and in 2007 the country produced 33.4 million bags. Shipments totaled 28.1 million bags last year, placing the country in the position of main global exporter.
Apart from that, Brazil is the second main coffee consumer market, with 17 million bags consumed. It only loses to the United States. According to estimates by the National Food Supply Company (Conab), the country should pick 45.5 million bags of coffee in the 2008 crop.
This is not the first time that the Apex-Brasil and ABIC join forces to promote foreign sales of coffee.
In 2002, exports totaled US$ 4 million, with activities of both organizations, sales reached US$ 26 million in 2007, a total that has already been exceeded in the first 10 months of 2008, when roasted and ground coffee exports reached US$ 34 million.
Anba
