Flanders targets Brazilian market with conference pear campaign
Flanders is intensifying its efforts to capture the Brazilian market with its conference pears, launching a campaign centred on in-store tastings during an economic visit to the country.
Although conference pears have been exported to Brazil since 2017, the country remains a niche market, with annual exports ranging between 500 and 800 tonnes, according to Marc Evrard, commercial director of Belgian Fruit Valley. However, with a population exceeding 200 million, Brazil offers significant growth potential.
“The conference pear is still relatively unknown in Brazil. It’s somewhat exotic because of its taste and colour,” said Gert Van Causenbroeck, export manager at the Flemish Centre for Agricultural and Fisheries Marketing. “Tastings are necessary to familiarise Brazilian consumers with it.”
A similar campaign was under way before the Covid-19 pandemic but was halted due to health protection measures, which banned tastings.
Retailers, too, have faced challenges adapting to the fruit. “It is a very delicate fruit. It took time to get to know it,” said Francisco Homsi, commercial director of Oba, a São Paulo-based retail chain specialising in fresh products. Oba, which operates 75 branches, has since added conference pears to its inventory.
Brazil’s importance as a market for Flemish pears has grown since 2014, when a trade embargo cut off access to Russia, previously the largest buyer of Belgian pears, accounting for over half of exports.
In response, exporters sought alternative markets, finding opportunities in China, India and Germany.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO FREDERIK UREEL
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