Suppers and gatherings of friends and family who want to catch up after nearly two years of the pandemic should make the year-end parties better than in 2019, when there were no restrictions due to the coronavirus, evaluated the food company BRF, leader in the called Christmas products.
But not only this repressed demand will be responsible for bringing good results for the company that owns brands like Sadia and Perdigão, said to Reuters the VP of Brazil Market at BRF, Sidney Manzaro.
He stressed that the company has prepared for the period, and that the scenarios outlined for social flexibility and vaccination coverage are being confirmed, while he believes that the appearance in Brazil of the new variant of the virus, omicron, does not change projections.
“The celebrations, in homes with friends and family, will be more intense than the historic. We will have a boom in year-end celebrations greater than 2019, bigger than the historic, with more people. As there is a lot of dammed stuff and a schedule short, people are likely to get together more,” he declared.
He did not release more detailed projections, but said that the company is also betting on plenty of tables, even in a challenging macroeconomic scenario and cost pressure — with the rise of important inputs, meat prices rose in 2021.
However, Manzaro cited the price advantage of poultry and pork — the focus of BRF — over beef, a movement that tends to be accentuated at Christmas and New Year.
The participation of chicken in protein consumption in Brazil increased to 43%, while pork rose to 15%, eggs rose to 19%, and beef fell to 23%, according to official data cited by BRF.
“Cattle are still out of the commemorative game, they have been losing more and more space… and the ox from the chicken has never been so far, even now from the pig,” said the executive, noting that a turkey is much more competitive than a piece of picanha and even better serves a larger number of guests at a party.
In terms of competition with other products, exchange rate effects should also take the shine off imported products, such as cod, he added.
Asked about competition from giants like JBS, which operates with the Seara brand in processed products, the BRF executive said that the company has been gaining market share in recent years in this segment of parties.
“Synonymous with turkey is Sadia, and on the other hand we have the chester…”, he said, saying that an important indicator that the company has made progress in festive products is that they disappear from stores after the period of celebrations.
For BRF’s Brazil Market VP, the company’s traditional brands will prevail because consumers will make choices for well-known products, to “don’t go wrong” in a long-awaited supper.
And also because the company has invested in innovations, such as a turkey with a crispy crust and seasoned barbecue chester, which should boost sales of higher value-added products that are more convenient to prepare.
“Brands are very important, but we have innovated a lot, we left the price fight, the rate of innovation in commemoratives, it has never been so high in recent years”, he commented.
According to data provided by BRF, the company is the market leader with more than 57% share in specialty birds and more than 73% in the turkey market, the company said based on figures from Nielsen Scantrack, from 2020.
In pigs, the company claims to have the leadership of Christmas pigs, with the ham being the most prominent cut among the items in the portfolio.
Omicron
Asked specifically about the impact of the Ômicron variant, with some cases already registered in Brazil, the BRF executive said he believes that this new factor should not affect business and projections for the end-of-year festivities.
“We are not working with a change in the scenario until the end of the year, the suppers will be greater than in 2019”, he reaffirmed.
He also said that even with the cancellation of public parties in some cities, this could end up being positive for food sales, as more people would gather at home.
“There will be plenty,” he said.
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