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Brazil's Export Promotion Agency (Apex - Brasil) and the Brazilian Fruit Institute (Ibraf) concluded a nationwide agreement this week to encourage exports of fresh and processed fruit.
The fruit sector will receive over US$ 5.1 million (13 million reais) this year from the federal government to spend on promotional activities abroad.
The chief program on the list is the Brazilian Fruit Festival, consequence of a partnership between the Apex, the Ibraf, and the Carrefour supermarket chain.
The Festival intends to augment the sector's promotional activities in 18 European, Middle Eastern, Asian, and American countries. The program, which began last September, established a goal of US$ 546.8 million in exports in 2005 - 20% more than in 2004.
The strategy of the Festival is to offer fresh fruit, juice, and fruit pulp in tasting sessions. The main countries this year are France, Italy, and Argentina.
The Festival got underway on April 11, in Italy, with simultaneous sales in 16 hypermarkets.
In France the program is part of the commemoration of the Year of Brazil, and the major promotional events in Paris are scheduled for May.
No definite date has been set for the festival in Argentina. Festivals were held last year in Spain, Portugal, and Poland.
"The international market is very receptive to the flavors and diversity of Brazilian fruit. In Poland, for example, where we inaugurated the Brazilian Fruit Festival, the stock of some fruit, acquired to last a week, was gone at the start of the second day," affirms Juan Quirós, president of the Apex.
The value of Brazilian fresh fruit exports grew 208% between 1998 and 2004, from US$ 120 million to US$ 370 million.
Agência Brasil
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