Fifty brands of cachaça (Brazilian sugar cane liquor), produced in ten Brazilian states, will be on display in 32 stands at the Cachaça Show, which begins today in the city of Olinda, in the northeastern state of Pernambuco.
Twenty thousand visitors are expected at the event, which runs through November 7 and should generate around US$ 710 thousand (2 million reais) in business.
The Cachaça Show will include tasting sessions, business rounds, and sales of products, machinery, and equipment.
Lectures on fermentation, technology, and marketing are also part of the program.
According to the organizers, the idea is to publicize the product, in order to increase cachaça consumption both at home and abroad.
Brazil currently exports 10 million liters of various brands of cachaça.
Pernambuco is the second largest exporter of Brazilian cachaça.
The state earned US$ 710 thousand (2 million reais) from the sale of 1.5 million liters of cachaça to countries such as Spain, Germany, the United States, and China.
The goal is to conquer other markets, such as England and France, in 2005.
Organic Cachaça
One of the most characteristic products of Brazil, cane spirit (locally called cachaça, aguardente, and pinga), is undergoing a process to add value, conquering great markets in big cities throughout the country, and attracting growing interest from international consumers.
Organic cane spirit, in which no chemical product is used in production, is mainly responsible for this added value.
Organic cachaça must compete with the industrial version, with 1,000 times greater production (200 million liters per year, against 200,000 liters of organic cachaça).
In Bahia, of the almost 5,000 producers, just 20 are capable of disputing this market with producers from other states.
The organic push will depend on producer profile.
Those who are already capacitated will receive support from Sebrae (Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio í s Micro e Pequenas Empresas – Brazilian Support Service to Micro and Small Businesses) for operation on the market.
Those who do not have a structure for quality production will receive orientation so as to improve production quality, support in legalization of the establishment, as well as training in design to add value to the product.
Those who produce in small quantities, in simple processes, will receive support for agricultural training, industrial production training, and instruction in association and cooperative creation, plus administrative training.
Sebrae and AB