Brazil puts up strategy to increase coffee exports
Valor Econômico
Even though Brazil increased its participation in international trade of coffee last year from 30% to 32% - the biggest share in the last 30 years, with the shipping of 30.3 million sacks - the exporters want more. The Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (APEX) are preparing an offensive to further increase the presence of the national product, primarily the gourmet product, in markets that imported less in 2009 or that have big growth potential.
The project of promotion of the Brazilian coffee has R$ 1.5 million (US$ 833 thousand) to be invested this year. In the sight of the exporters there are already at least six countries: China, Japan, South Korea, Italy, France and the United States. Each of those countries should receive a group of special coffee exporters from Brazil at least once this year.
Among the six main targets, four are already among the biggest importers of Brazilian coffee. Americans are the world's main consumers and Brazil's second main client. One in every four cups of coffee drank in the USA is of Brazilian coffee. With a domestic demand of 22.2 million sacks in 2009, the U.S.A. imported only 5.9 million sacks from Brazil last year. "Regardless of the crisis, the United States is an important market. We have quality and price to compete and that is what we want to do", says Tulio Junqueira, President of the BSCA. The Brazilian production of special coffee amounts to nearly 5 million sacks, 80% of which is exported.
Third main destination of the Brazilian coffee, Italy purchased 14% less coffee from Brazil in 2009. 2.5 million sacks were shipped compared to the 2.91 million shipped in 2008, a fact that justifies a bigger effort in the promotion of the product. Still in Europe, regardless of all the tradition of coffee shops, France is just the eighth destination of the national coffee, with the sale of 693 thousand sacks. In Asia, Japan is the third biggest world consumer and the fourth destination of the Brazilian exports. Last year, the Japanese bought 2.1 million sacks from Brazil, causing the participation of the Brazilian coffee in that country to get to 35%.
"Brazil already has a big participation in Japan, but coffee from Central America and Colombia combined represent nearly 40% in that market. With the fall in the production of those countries, Brazil has a chance to occupy an even greater share in the market that best pays for the national product", says Guilherme Braga, Director of the Council of Brazilian Coffee Exporters (Cecafé). Still not included in the list of the main destinations of the sales of Brazil, South Korea and China should receive special treatment. South Koreans are big consumers and import 100% of their needs. In 2009, 1.5 million sacks of coffee were consumed in Korea, the same volume consumed by Colombia and Argentina together.
"In China, the situation is different. We need to understand the market, figure out what they want so that we are able to have a bigger share" says Junqueira. Even with the world's biggest population, the per capita consumption in China is one of the smallest ones, with a modest 0.02 kilo per person/year.