Friday, July 24, 2009

A little cup of coffee




Brazilians use to drink their 'cafezinho' (little cup of coffee) after lunch, many times during the day at the office, when visiting someone who offers a freshly brewed little cup of coffee at home. You can also be invited for a little cup of coffee at the corner to discuss about a job offer or business. But the business can not be necessarily little. That’s what Brazil is aiming in Canada, trading its internationally renowned coffee.

Canada is already a traditional buyer of Brazilian coffee. In 2008, Canada imported US$ 53.521 million of green coffee (Coffee that has been processed, but remains un-roasted), (19.728 tons) and US$ 17.711 million of instant coffee (1.968 tons). These numbers show a potential opportunity for industrialized coffee (roasted bean or roasted and ground). The Canadian interest on this was confirmed last April, during the SIAL (North American Food Marketplace) here in Montreal, where Apex and ABIC promoted the Brazilian coffee. For instance, the Reseau Laurentides, from Quebec, bought US$ 350 K (around 60 tons) of roasted and ground coffee for the next year.

The opportunities really exist; it is clear when we go to supermarket and groceries stores here. We can hardly find coffee that is marked as from Brazil. At the same time, it is easy to find it from Colombia, Kenya, Costa Rica and many blends from France. For sure many Canadian, American or European brands are selling Brazilian coffee but we don’t know. It is said that the exportation of industrialized coffee from Brazil is a recent activity that has being improved since 2002. So now it is time for Brazlians to offer a 'cafezinho' to Canadians and make deals in order to have more BR coffee brands here. The quality is already perceived. A good example is in the picture above. The Rich Nescafé stamps its Brazilian origin. And below, there is a package of a French brand, that I found in a very small grocery store on the road at St-Irénée, here in Quebec, going to Tadoussac last month.


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