Sri Lanka participates at Brazil’s largest supermarket exhibition APAS Show 2019

The Sri Lankan delegation of coconut product exporters at APAS Show 2019

Visit of Sri Lankan State Minister of Plantation Industries Vadivel Suresh to the Sri Lanka pavilion

The Coconut Development Authority of Sri Lanka, in collaboration with the Department of Commerce and the Sri Lanka Embassy in Brazil, participated at the APAS Show 2019, considered the largest supermarket exhibition held in Latin America.  The APAS Show 2019 was held from 6-9 May at the Expo-Centre, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

The Sri Lankan delegation was headed by State Minister of Plantation Industries Vadivel Suresh and four Sri Lankan leading coconut exporting companies, namely: Bio Extracts Ltd., Consolidated Business Systems Ltd., Agri Exports Ltd. and NDC Exports Ltd., and Mihira Perera, promotional officer of the Coconut Development Authority of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan stall at the APAS Show exhibited a range of coconut products such as desiccated coconut, coconut milk powder, virgin coconut oil, coconut flour, and coconut sugar. The participating delegation held a number of successful B2B meetings with the leading supermarket suppliers in Brazil for a variety of coconut product brands such as Copra, Quality Coco, and Coco Land, and received numerous business inquiries from leading supermarket suppliers and individual companies in Brazil during the exhibition. 

It is significant to note that during the past 5 years, the exports of coconut related products from Sri Lanka to Brazil registered over 2% increase and the industry has constantly grown in 2018. The APAS exhibition provides an ideal opportunity for Sri Lankan manufacturers and exporters of supermarket products to expand their production and distribution network in South America.  

Over 800 Brazilian and international participants, representing more than 20 countries, exhibited a wide range of products of super markets including food, , personal hygiene, cleaning products at this year´s APAS Show.  The exhibition included trade shows and business seminars and brought greater integration among entrepreneurs, industry personalities and international buyers by providing a real business platform that generated over 80,000 transactions of business. 

The APAS Show is an annual consumer trade exhibition organised by the São Paulo Supermarket Association (Associação Paulista de Supermercados) which represents the supermarket industry in the State of São Paulo and their entire supply chain which has around 1,500 associates, which sum up to more than four thousand stores.