10 September 2008

3 minute read

South America

The order was placed by a businessman from Lebanon who sought Fonseca due to his 30-year experience in dairy. "He sent me a sample, made in the Netherlands, and asked me to produce the same," said the manager.

Over the last three months, the production manager at Lindóia do Sul dairy, José Marcos Fonseca, researched the development of a kind of pure animal fat for use in factories in Lebanon and Jordan. The order was placed by a businessman from Lebanon who sought Fonseca due to his 30-year experience in dairy. "He sent me a sample, made in the Netherlands, and asked me to produce the same," said the manager.

According to him, the product is greatly used in the production of pastry, much used in Arab sweets. "We had to make changes to the scent and flavour. And it worked out," said Fonseca, who shipped two kilograms of samples of the product. According to him, the Arabs usually import this animal fat, which is made from butter, from European countries, but at great expense. "It is different in Brazil. Currently we use more vegetable fat, which is cheaper," he said.

During the months of research, Fonseca also elaborated mixed fat, including animal and vegetable fat. "If any company is interested, we can easily adapt our production and export," he said. Lindóia do Sul dairy, based in Santa Catarina, still doesn't export, but, according to Fonseca, in six months the company can adapt itself to supply the foreign market.

"I read on ANBA about Jordanian businessmen who came to Brazil seeking dairy products, and they may be interested in my product," said Fonseca, who now wants buyers for the new fat. Before working for the factory in Santa Catarina, Fonseca worked for another sector company that exported to the Arabs. "I know that they import large volumes of butter without salt," he said.

Lindóia do Sul dairy, which has been on the market for eight years, produces butter, mozzarella and cream cheese. With 65 employees, the company may process 100,000 litres of milk a day.

Dairy exports

From January to August, Brazilian exports of dairy products to the Arab countries generated US$ 53.32 million, which represented growth of 31.7% over the same period last year. However, the volume shipped dropped 1.6%. In the first eight months of this year, shipments totalled 14,900 tonnes, against 15,100 tonnes in the same period in 2007.

The main products exported to the Arab market were whole powdered milk, butter, cream and mozzarella and other kinds of cheese.

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