12/11/2008 11h05
Summer can help food to recover losses of the 4th quarter
DCI - 12/12/2008
Contrarily to most industrial sectors, manufacturers of food products such as yogurt, jelly and mayonnaise foresee a growth in sales of 20% just in the first quarter of the year. A period that is being seen with "caution" by the whole productive sector. The high is not new, since it normally happens seasonally because of the summer, but it can help these industries to compensate the losses registered in the last quarter of 2008 - when the world crisis gave its first signs in Brazil - and to remain stable during the first months of 2009. The seasonal variation is pushed by the increase of the demand for fresh and light foods, which makes the segment's industries such as Vigor, Dr. Otker and Bunge increase their production in the same proportion. "This in view of a production of more than 500 thousand tons of yogurt per year", as explained Ivete Torrezan, manager of Vigor products. Another factor that further emphasizes the increase of the summer sales is the resumption of the occupation of the shelves by those products, as those were occupied by typical products for the holiday season, like meat and hen. Dr. Oetker, a producer of jellies, flans and puddings, is getting ready to supply the demand for less caloric items and expects a still higher growth of the volume of summer sales. According to the Marketing manager of the company Claudia Rocha, during the next months, the demand for this kind of food tends to grow 40%. "It is a period in which people are worried about their health and well-being", she explained. It is also in this period that the industries invest in the launching of new products that were developed during the year, focused on the high summer demand and the consumer's willingness to buy.
