Brazilian organic food exports rose by 40 per cent in value to US$29m during the first four months of 2008, according to data from the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
The figure is an impressive increase on last year when overall shipments were worth US$21m for the 12-month period.
However, in 2007 Apex did not count the sales from three states, the Federal District of Brazil, Paraiba and Río Grande do Sul.
This year, Apex predicts Brazil’s organic product exports will reach a value of US$40 – a similar figure to sales on the domestic market.
Some 26 companies, who form part of the Organics Brazil project, alone are expected to supply US$1m of organic products during 2008, according to Apex.
In the last two years the Organics Brazil initiative has invested around US$8.5m in an effort to secure by July 2009 participation from 65 exporting companies and an annual export volume worth US$30m.
