With an eye on the Arabs’ taste for tea, which is largely consumed in the region, the company Clarim Industrial, organic tea manufacturer from the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, plans on exhibiting mate and green tea produced by them at the Damascus International Fair, which will take place at the Syrian capital between the 3rd and 12th of September.
This will be the first time the company participates in a trade fair abroad. “We want to promote Brazilian teas in the Middle East. I am sure it will be a success,” stated the partner director at Clarim, Rodrigo Andreoli. The participation of Brazilian companies in the event will be organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB).
The company already exports about 20% of their production of mate to Chile and the United States. “We are now starting negotiations with Germany and France,” he added.
The Arabs consume a lot of tea, more even than coffee. The most consumed varieties are black tea, importing mainly from Sri Lanka and India, and mate, supplied mainly by Argentina. There is space, however, for many other types of products, even the fruity kinds.
According to Andreoli, the mate is produced only in South America, especially in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. “People drink tea all over the world. It is the second most consumed beverage after water,” he said. He highlighted the qualities of the plants produced in Brazil. “It is a suave and well aromatized product,” he added.
Clarim is responsible for the whole production process, from planting, going through harvesting and transport of the mate, to aromatization, which can be made with various flavors, like orange, peach, cinnamon, lemon, guaraná and natural.
“We will take samples of all these teas to the Damascus fair,” stated Andreoli. After the fair in Syria, he should go to the United States, where he will participate at Biofach, organic products trade fair.
As well as presenting aromatized teas to the Arabs, Clarim will take green tea to the fair, the first harvest will be made by the company at the end of August. According to Andreoli, the company started planting the variety about one year ago.
He even said that he plans on taking samples of mate to make the ‘chimarrão’, typical hot beverage from the South of Brazil, made with mate and no sugar. “The Arabs also drink chimarrão, but the processing of the mate is different, which leaves a much stronger taste,” he stated.
Clarim, also known as Chás Campo Verde (meaning Green Field Teas), was founded in 2003 in the city of Campo Largo, 25 kilometers away from Curitiba, the capital city of the state of Paraná.
The company has an area of 400 hectares for planting, but currently works with 170 hectares. Their production capacity is of 4,500 tons of mate per year. According to Andreoli, Clarim harvests two crops per year and counts on 160 employees, where 85% work in the plantations.
Contacts
Clarim
Tel: +55 (41) 3032-1889
www.mateamargo.com.br
About the Damascus International Fair
Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB)
Marketing Department
Tel: +55 (11) 3283-4066
marketing@ccab.org.br
www.ccab.org.br
Anba – www.anba.com.br