Henrietta, the Sadia symbol in the Arab world

Sadia, a Brazilian food sector industry, is going to build a factory in the United Arab Emirates in 2008. Investment should total 100 million Brazilian reais (US$ 57 million) as informed the chairman of the company's board of directors, Walter Fontana Filho, in an article published yesterday (31) in newspaper Valor Econômico. The site for the plant has not yet been defined. The factory is going to process beef and chicken to supply the great demand in the region. Company exports to the Middle East total US$ 550 million a year. In the first nine months of 2007 alone, of the total Sadia exports of 2.4 billion Brazilian reais (US$ 1.4 billion), 22% were to the Arab market.

"Due to exports, we already have operations in the Emirates (sale and distribution), with 20 employees in Dubai. What is most important is development of a local project. In future we may be able to develop partnerships in the country. Acquisitions or leases are also not discarded," stated Fontana.

Sadia has been exporting to the Arabs since the 1970s. The company was the Brazilian pioneer in product sales to the Middle East. The organisation started exporting whole chickens to the Arabs and introduced the consumption of chicken pieces in the region in the 1980s. "There they call us Sádia. We are ‘top of mind’ in chicken," he explained.

Halal slaughter, which follows Islamic rules, was an important measure adopted by the company to win the market. The Middle East is so important to Sadia that the brand has exclusive advertising campaigns for the region. As is the case with Brazil, the advertisements are starred by a character. Chicken Henrietta is very successful.

Abroad, apart from the Middle East, the company only has an exclusive advertising campaign in Russia, where the first international Sadia factory is being built. The company invested 92 million reais (US$ 53 million) in the construction in partnership with a local company, Miratorg. The unit is going to start operating in January 2008 and is going to industrialise chicken and pork.

Fontana also stated that the Sadia industrialisation process is not going to stop with the factory in the Emirates. In 2009, another plant abroad should start being built, with investment of 100 million (US$ 57 million). According to him, the new projects are in line with the company growth strategy.

In the first nine months of 2007, the company posted gross revenues of 6.9 billion reais (US$ 4 billion), with net revenues of 6.1 billion reais (US$ 3.5 billion), a performance 25% greater than in the same period last year. The company's net profit reached 156.4%, totalling R$ 394 million. In terms of volume, sales registered growth of 11.8% and reached 1.55 million tonnes. Sadia currently employs around 49,000 people and, through its Agricultural Sponsoring Program, has partnerships with around 10,000 poultry and pork raising farms.