A new business round of the food sector brought together Uruguayan exporters and international buyers

The investment, export, and country brand promotion agency, Uruguay XXI, and the Chamber of Industries held a new business round for exporters in the food and beverage sector.

The activity organized uninterruptedly since 2014, had the support of the Uruguayan Embassy in Paraguay, which identified three important buyers from the sector who were invited to Montevideo. It also convened five other buyers from the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Brazil, who held one-on-one meetings with 60 Uruguayan food and beverage companies, producers of chocolates, sea salt, frozen foods, wines, beverages, powdered soft drinks, farinaceous, frozen baked goods, alfajores and cookies, healthy snacks, olive oil, caviar, teas and infusions, plant-based foods, health, nutritional supplements, mineral water, dairy and agro-industrial products, gluten-free and beekeeping, among others.

More than 130 B2B meetings were held at the meeting to open up new markets for Uruguayan products.

International buyers valued the event positively. Alfonso Duque, director of Hanseatik, dedicated to importing and distributing high-end products in Mexico, has been buying Uruguayan dulce de leche for three years. “Year after year, we see how this product is growing. Now, we are interested in salts, wine, and caviar. I never imagined there would be any here, and it sounds exciting to import it from a Latin American market”, he said.

Aluisio Selomar, from the Brazilian Agroprime Alimentos, was happy to visit the country. “I loved being here; the people are amicable and respectful. I also enjoyed learning about the opportunities Uruguay offers the world,” he said.

"We want to develop these long-term relationships and promote their products in Brazil,” he said about the possibility of concretizing food imports from Uruguay. He added that he would like Uruguayan wines, olive oils, ciders, and dulce de leche in his Brazil stores.
“Uruguay is a different country, with high-quality products. Uruguayan products cannot be missing from our portfolio, so we are prioritizing being here,” he closed.

Edward Hammoud from Monalisa, a Paraguayan company dedicated to marketing quality products from all over the world and which already imports Uruguayan wines, also valued the quality of the country’s production.