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With a new variety of coffee, tea, herbal tea, ' panela' o rbrown sugar and corn flour, five Colombian exporters expect to conquer the taste buds of the 150,000 specialized visitors who will be in Anuga 2011 from October 8 to 12 in Cologne, Germany.
" We are going to seek new business, potential suppliers of raw materials and, especially, do some intelligence on the more developed markets," said Juan Guillermo Gonzalez, of Agrí cola Himalaya, a company dedicated to production of a variety of herbal teas. " We will bring tropical fruit products like pineapple, unripe mango, and lulo. We also just released soluble products, one with an extract of asai and pomegranate, and another enriched with vitamin and cherry."
Recently, Agrí cola Himalaya received the UTZ certification, which guarantees the social and environmental quality consumers expect from their brands. " We are now in a transition to organic products because in the advanced markets, such as Europe, it is becoming a requirement. The intent with this is to add value to our products."
The companies, which traveled with the support of PROCOLOMBIA, will aim to put ' Colombia at the tip of tongue of the world' through its products and sample tastings this is the name of the strategy that the country has prepared for the show, considered the most important fair in the food and beverage industry.
Another participant, Alejandro de la Hoz, export manager at Alimentos Polar S.A., believes that innovation should be the driver in the bakery market. " Europe is currently our main market with 40 percent of exports, and we want to explore new trends in the industry to better serve our existing customers and clients," he explained.
In regard to the supply of hot beverages, Colombian coffee is one of the products expected to have greater acceptance in the European country. " The German market is one of the largest consumers of instant coffee, so we will offer a variety of soluble, powdered and granulated coffees, as well as decaffeinated, coffee extract, coffee oil and green decaffeinated coffee," said Marí a Fernanda Toro, Sales Director at Descafecol.
Dona Panela, creators of instant, cubed panela (brown sugar) as a sweetener, will also be present. " The goal is to consolidate the contacts made during previous exploratory trips, and to showcase Colombian agricultural products. For example, we will have organic brown sugar on display in different forms," explained General Manager, Freddy Ramirez.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, the export of Colombian bakery and milling products in 2010 was US$109 million. As for hot beverages, including cocoa and coffee, exports totaled about US$150.3 million.
