AFIA Explores Promising Markets Abroad: Brazil Edition

Written by: Mallory Gaines   |   November 21, 2022

Trade, Brazil

“Team Trade” (aka Gina Tumbarello and myself) do several different jobs at once for American Feed Industry Association members. Most important is answering members’ questions and helping solve their day-to-day trade snags. But another important aspect of our work is opening market access to help interested AFIA members gain more market share in a country of interest by providing a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges that exist in that market.

To do this, Team Trade takes a targeted approach, working under the direction of the AFIA International Trade Committee (ITC) to identify countries of interest. We then apply for funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate specific countries, a useful step for verifying if the country is a viable market for U.S. animal food products.

Brazil has long been on the list of countries of interest for increased market access for animal food exports (see related blog post). Recently, the AFIA received Emerging Market Program funds from the USDA to do a market assessment for animal feed ingredients and additives in Brazil. Market assessments are the first step in the process, as they tell us what is happening in the market, what gaps U.S. animal food exports can fill, what regulations may prohibit members from accessing the market and so on. We contracted Rose Research, whose team also includes River Global, a consulting firm specializing in marketing U.S. agriculture products located in Brazil, to conduct the research and data collection. .

In late October, I joined Rose Research and River Global in São Paulo, Brazil, to learn more about the Brazilian animal feed marketplace and oversee several of the interviews being conducted with animal feed distributors and importers. We met with the Foreign Agricultural Service in São Paulo and the Brazilian feed industry association, Sindirações, both of which have been supportive partners of our interests in the South American country. We also met with several feed ingredient and additive importers and distributors. The meetings were productive and having the AFIA represented showed our Brazilian counterparts that we are committed to doing business with them and promoting their own business goals and solutions through the introduction of U.S. products.  

After the market assessment is completed, the AFIA and ITC can begin narrowing down how best to access the market for Brazilian entities to incorporate American-made ingredients and additives. The AFIA will help open the door to this market and our members can decide if they want to walk through it!

Stay tuned for more information in 2023 as we wrap up the market assessment and formulate the next phase of work.