Coffee industries seek options to boost sales
Valor Econômico
Concentration of the segment, increase of competition in the retail and difficulty in transferring the end customer the increase in the price of the raw material in the past few months. Together, the three factors are leading the Brazilian coffee industries, especially the mid-size ones, to seek sales alternatives to remain active instead of being acquired by larger groups. One of the trends that begins getting stronger in the Brazilian market - and having participation in the earnings of the companies - is the production aimed at the own brands of gourmet coffee.
Until then restricted to products of lower quality, the own brand for high quality coffees of higher quality gained greater demand in the past three years, especially with the growing number of coffee shops. "The own brand of gourmet coffee is an important alternative. In the United States many companies specialize in that and they happen to have 90 different brands to cater to clients ranging from coffee shops, restaurants and even car dealership chains", says Nathan Herszkowicz, Executive Director of the Brazilian Association of the Coffee Industry (Abic).
Largest gourmet coffee industry of the country, Café do Centro is increasing its sales of own brands in the category. The company, which ended 2010 with earnings of R$ 30 million (US$ 17.1 million), has in its own brands of gourmet coffee the origin of 5% of its total sales. "We went from zero to R$ 1.5 million (US$ 882.4 thousand) in three years. We started the strategy in 2007 and we are growing year after year", says Rodrigo Branco Peres, who commands the company in partnership with his cousin Rafael Branco Peres.
On the list of clients with own brands of the company is the chain of gas stations Graal, owner of the "Route Café" brand, developed and manufactured by Café do Centro. The owners of the roasting recall Graal used a low quality coffee, but on a strategy to revitalize their own brand they decided to introduce a high-quality coffee. "We realized that, besides selling espresso at the counter, the coffee stands sell the customers roasted and ground coffee to take home. The chain has not only increased the sales of coffee in the stores, it also developed a new source of income", says Rafael Branco Peres.
Also in the line of alternative sales channels, the internet has also become an option. Café Canecão from São Paulo and Café Meridiano from Espírito Santo, for example, are betting on the sale of their products through the internet. "It is starting to become increasingly common in the coffee industry the B2C [Business to Consumer] sale, that is, direct to the final consumer", says Herszkowicz. To the extent the industry consolidates, according to Herszkowicz, initiatives such as the Internet and own brands of gourmet coffee become increasingly more frequent.
One more step towards the concentration of the sector was taken last week, when the 3Corações group - joint venture of Santa Clara and Straus-Elite - took the right decision in the purchase of Café Fino Grão, from Minas Gerais. Before that, the American Sara Lee established itself as leader in the domestic market as it incorporated in November last year the then fourth largest industry of the country, Café Damasco. Currently, the ten largest companies in the country already respond, together, for 75.2% of the sales of coffee in the domestic market.