11-02-2016 17:52    Vincent

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ABICAB’s pavilion at ISM 2016

Obrigado, Gracias to my South American visitors

One of the things that surprise me with this blogging activity is that according to the statistics, these pages welcome many Brazilian visitors. As it is the worldwide web, of course I expected my humble blog to have international visitors. But I didn’t expect to see that many South Americans (from mostly Brazil, but also a few from Argentina and Mexico).

So when a few days before the ISM, I received an invitation from ABICAB to visit their pavilion, I didn’t hesitate and thought a little visit would be interesting for my readers.

Who is ABICAB?

ABICAB is the Brazilian Association of Cacao, Chocolates, Candies and Byproducts Industry. It was founded in 1957 to be responsible for the industry's policies both at home in Brazil, as well as abroad.

The organization is working with the governmental agency Apex-Brasil whose mission is to promote the exporting of Brazil’s products and services, contribute to turning national companies international and attract foreign investment to Brazil.

In 2015, ABICAB’s Exportation overall total was of US$ FOB = 239.096.344

It represents 92% of the chocolate market, 70% of the candies and confectionery market, 80% of the peanut market and 100% of the cacao market.

My 20/CENT on ABICAB’s presence at ISM 2016

This year at ISM, ABICAB’s pavilion was composed of 14 Brazilian companies including Berbau, Docile, Dori, Embaré, Garoto, Harald, Jazam, Montevérgine, Nugali, Peccin, Prodasa, Riclan, Simas and Vonpar. Upon arrival I could enjoy a warm welcome with a nice cup of coffee before going into the fun part: looking closely at a few exhibitors and their products. Of course I couldn’t see all 14 companies, but I am pleased to share with you the four following examples

• Harald: With its brand ‘Unique’ the company proposes several formats aimed at both professionals and consumers. The key element in the range is the combination of surprising flavors with cacao from single origin. There are different combinations in the product assortment, and I had fun tasting most of them. But the one I remember the most is a particular one.  Having tasted the product with the lemongrass flavor, I was pleasantly surprised that the tastes are well balanced (unlike at many Thai restaurant when sometimes lemongrass is the only thing you can taste in a dish).
• Peccin: Surfing on the trend ‘Provide an Alibi’ (see the article on the Ten trends of Innova Market Insisghts http://20100retail.be/en/articles/138/top-10-trends-2016.) the company had a product with Acai berry, so a sweet but with a super ingredient. The company representative explained how three different processes were involved to get to the final product with a filling, a chewy part and a coating. So for those just gulping their sweets, please pay attention next time you indulge yourself, and try to appreciate the several layers of your candy.
• Docile: A family business with many years of experience. It was quite interesting to see how different candies and gums were developed with a certain level of creativity: for example a cat and a dog-shaped sweet attached to each other giving you two sweets at once and the illusion that cats and dogs can live together; or the typical Brigadeiros, a sweet recreating the typical birthday treat
• Nugali: On that booth I could feel both passion for the production, and see a well thought marketing. The representative I could speak to was very keen to introduce me to the "agroforestry system" the company uses to produce its cocoa beans. The concept of removing a percentage of the lower trees in the forest and replacing them with cocoa trees preserves the forest as an ecosystem, keeping shelter for all its biodiversity. Next to this passion and care for the production, the company also offers interesting products surfing on various trends, for example: products are gluten free, there is a lactose free range, the packagings are attractive, the sizes available are also varying from single bites, to gift boxes…

A last element I could pick up from the various conversations, is all companies involved in chocolate or cocoa production, insisted that Brazil made a lot of efforts over the years to improve the quality of the beans. The farmers and the industry wanted to move from the image of mass production, to a reputation based on quality.

 The visit to ABICAB’s pavilion was for my part quite interesting as I got to learn a few things I didn’t know. Yes someone coming from a country famous for its chocolate and pralines can learn about cacao from interactions with other countries.

On the blog’s point of view, taking a look at countries pavilions and particular booths or innovations is a new editorial angle. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed my visit at ABICAB’s pavilion.

More on ABICAB: http://www.abicab.org.br