Belgian ports serve as gateways for Brazilian coffee and orange juice in Europe
The ports of Antwerp and Ghent play a crucial role in distributing two of Brazil's key export products - coffee and orange juice - across Europe. This partnership was underscored during a presentation of Brazilian food products on Tuesday as part of a trade mission to Brazil.
The port of Antwerp-Bruges, home to the world’s largest coffee storage facility with 800,000 square metres of covered space, plays a central role in the coffee trade.
“We import 500,000 tonnes annually; that is approximately equal to 45 billion cups of coffee,” said a port spokesperson. Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, and 40 per cent of the country's food exports to Belgium consist of coffee beans. These are distributed from Antwerp to Belgian coffee roasters and across the broader European market.
"You could say that almost all the fruit juice that is drunk in Europe comes from Ghent"
In addition to coffee, orange juice is another prominent Brazilian export to Belgium. Brazil, the world’s largest orange juice producer, benefits from the strategic role played by the port of Ghent in this trade.
Two of the three leading players in the orange juice trade, Louis Dreyfus Company and the Brazilian Citrosuco, have a terminal in the port of Ghent. From Ghent, the produce is distributed to producers throughout Europe. “You could, therefore, say that almost all the fruit juice that is drunk in Europe comes from Ghent,” said a spokesperson for Fevia, the federation of Belgian food companies.
While Belgium serves as a hub for Brazilian exports, it also exports food products to Brazil, with French fries being the most significant item sent overseas.
#FlandersNewsService | The Port of Antwerp-Bruges © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS
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