CCBC organizes one more mission to Sial and presents firsthand the main trends in the Canadian food and beverage market for Brazilian producers

By Sérgio Siscaro

A market that will reach almost 70 billion Canadian dollars in 2024, with consumers hungry for healthy, high-quality, and exotic flavored products. This is the Canadian food and beverage scenario, which shall be once again available for Brazilian producers in this year’s edition of the Salon International de l’Alimentation (Sial), the most important fair in agri-food and beverage sector in North America. The event will take place between April 15 and 17, at Palais dês Congrès, in Montreal, and will once again receive a commercial mission from the Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada.

It shall be a great option for those wishing to expand their businesses abroad. Besides the Canadians, Sial helps them open doors to consumers in the United States and numerous other countries. The fair gathers more than 18.5 thousand buyers of 60 different nationalities. Numerous products that settled in foreign markets started their global onset that way, including typical Brazilian food and beverage. Among the participants in CCBC’s mission latest edition, for example, products made from pupunha, açaí, cupuaçu, cashew nuts, and fish snacks, among others, gained space. A huge variety of typical fruits and beverages, such as cachaça, also have guaranteed success.

The Canadian receptivity and market features may be felt throughout many activities of the mission. CCBC’s delegation will have the opportunity to practice an authentic immersion into the Canadian market – networking not only with the main importers and exporters but also with many professionals in areas supporting international trade: forwarding agents, shipping companies or port representatives, etc.

It will also be a great chance for companies starting in foreign trade, which may then know firsthand which are Canada’s needs and proper conditions to enter the market. In previous editions, Brazilians could – including small and medium-sized companies and also rural producers – present a diverse list of products.

Commercial Opportunities
At this year’s edition of Sial, CCBC shall also have, for the first time, its own booth – where mission participants and their products may gather. “Our mission’s greatest differential is that is shall not be limited to only displaying food and beverage from companies going with us but also holding business rounds, as well as holding two tasting dinners, in which Canadian buyers will have the opportunity to taste Brazilian products,” says the person in charge of CCBC’s Business Development area, Arminio Calonga Jr.

According to him, both dinners shall have a menu prepared by a Brazilian chef. “The potential client may not only taste the products but also understand how they apply to Canadian daily cuisine.”

Regarding the business rounds, Calonga is categorical: they are an important form to bring Brazilian producers and their potential Canadian clients together. “Take part in the fair and wait for the client to cross the hall and get interested in your product is one thing. Having a meeting scheduled with this potential buyer for a business region is another thing completely different,” he says.

Diverse schedule
Sial is supported by local and federal governments and shifts every year between Montreal and Toronto. In 2019, when held in Toronto, it registered 25.1 thousand professional attendees from 60 countries, who were able to know the news provided by 1,130 exhibitors. About 80 conferences and activities related to the food and beverage sector were held. The 12th edition of the Sial Innovation competition was one of them, awarding the most significant innovations showed by companies attending the fair.

The businessmen delegation that took part in CCBC’S last year’s mission had the possibility to make contact with potential food and beverage buyers and distributors from many Canadian provinces besides becoming aware of the main trends in the sector. At that opportunity, the participants also took part in special events, such as the Brazilian Gastronomy Week – by which importers from Toronto and Montreal had the opportunity to taste the country’s products throughout the event.

“We have had a progressive increase in Brazilian food and beverage exports to Canada – especially in the fruit sector. They have a Brazilian appeal, new flavors, and textures, which have become attractive to the Canadian market,” he says.

More information and enrollment for CCBC’s 2020 Sial Commercial Mission here.

Andreza de Sena França
[email protected]
Direct: 4058-0381

Armínio Calonga Jr.
[email protected]
Direct: 4058-0387

Watch the video on the Canadian market for Brazilian products here.