One of the greatest food industries in Brazil, Avipal group, is going to participate in the Gulfood fair, the largest food sector fair in the Middle East, for the fourth time. The fair begins today, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. However, this is going to be the first time that the company will have its own stand at the event.
"We believe that the Arab countries are an extremely promising and growing market. New countries in the region are becoming potential chicken importers," stated the foreign trade director at the company, Lucia Mitico Nagamura.
According to her, the company's interest in participating in the fair is due to the local importance. "Dubai is a great and important distribution and import center in the Middle East. The emirate is appropriate for the congregation of players in the chicken sector," she said.
Avipal has been exporting chicken to the Arab market since 2000, being present in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Egypt and Iraq. "The Arab countries have a very significant and important representation in our chicken exports," stated Lucia. In total, the company exports to over 100 countries.
Apart from chicken, the Avipal group also trades pork, dairy products, soy and maize. Based in the city of Porto Alegre, capital of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, the company has been in the market for 48 years and employs 9,000 people. The group has 12 industrial units, 17 poultry farms, six incubators and five animal feed factories.
In total, the company has a network of 27,000 producers of milk and 2,800 integrated chicken and pork producers. The group slaughters around 210 million chickens a year and has a yearly turnover of one million tons.
Apart from that, they process 750 million liters of milk per year, used for the production of yoghurt, milk sweet, condensed milk, cream cheese, powdered milk, juices, cheese and butter, among others. In 2005, the group's revenues reached US$ 1.1 billion.
Apart from the Avipal Group, another 22 Brazilian companies and associations are going to participate in Gulfood. This is going to be the first time that three sector organizations participate in the fair in partnership with the Brazilian government – they are the Brazilian Beef Industry and Exporters Association (Abiec), the Brazilian Poultry Exporters Association (Abef) and the Brazilian Fruit Institute (Ibraf).
Gulfood, which is at its 12th edition, is considered the most important business platform for the segment of food, beverages, services and hotel and restaurant equipment in the region.
The fair is turned to producers, suppliers and distributors in the food sector all around the world. Last year, the event received 32,000 visitors from 146 countries.
Service
Gulfood
Date: from February 19 to 22
Site: Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center
Time: From 11:00 am to 07:00 pm
Site: www.gulfood.com
Anba
