It all started with an Internet search in Egypt for a Brazilian supplier of dog food. The Egyptian distributor ended up finding a site, that of Guaru Alimentos, which has a factory in Aparecida de Goiânia, a city located 200 kilometers away from Brazilian capital BrasÀlia.
"He sent an e-mail asking for information. We called back and, after around 20 days of negotiations, closed the deal," explained Cristiana Fernandes Ternes, the financial manager at the company.
The first step was to send samples of the products. Then the distributor, situated in Giza, in the metropolitan region of Cairo, sent to the producer the model for the label, with text in Arabic, which includes the composition of the food, the levels of guarantee, the expiration date and the number of the respective lot.
"We also had to provide certification and laboratory analysis of all the lots exported," explained Cristiana. "Our products will be consumed in Egypt and Kuwait, where our client also sells," she added. The container, with 23 tons of dog food will be shipped to Egypt before the end of the year.
Apart from starting the process for internationalization of the Qualitté brand, which is the company's cash cow, the contract with Egypt caused great change in the plans of the small company. "We found out that exporting is much simpler than we thought and that the Arabs seek products with quality and guarantee, which is exactly our differential," she added.
The opening of the foreign market caused Guaru to anticipate projects for expansion of the factory, which are already in progress. According to the manager, in 2009 the factory is going to expand the productive capacity from the current 150 tons a month to 500 tons a month.
The new machinery should cost over 1 million Brazilian reais (US$ 426,000) and will be financed. The number of company employees should also rise, from the current 35 to 60 employees.
Guaru Alimentos was established in 2004 by a group of people who say they love pets. On the Brazilian market the company supplies mainly to the states of Goiás, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Sergipe.
Service
Guaru Alimentos
Address: Rodovia BR-153 Qd. 79 Lt. 6/10 Galpão 2
Vila Santa – Aparecida de Goiânia – GO
Telephone: (+55 62) 3278-0779
Site: www.guarualimentos.com.br
E-mail: contato@guarualimentos.com.br
Anba
