T he food indusTry in B razil is parT of The
agriBusiness producTion chain and accounTs
for a large parT of The counTry’s gdp.  T he
arTicle provides a skeTch of The indusTry,
iTs performance and ouTlook.  a descripTion
of The exporT processes and disTriBuTionimported food
channels is included.
P erformance and o utlook
R ising exports and the growth of consumer purchasing power were factors that contributed to the food industry’s
good performance in 2004. The 2 .6% increase in the dollar value of processed food exports—which amounted to $1  billion—was a veritable tour de force.  It showed the power of an industry that accounted for 1 . % of Brazil’s total exports and around 2 .4% of the industry’s total real sales.
This indicator stood at 21.2% in 2001, and attests to the efforts put forth by the food industry to leverage new markets for Brazilian food products.
Brazil’s processed foods meet international standards of quality and presentation.  In part, this is because transnational corporations in the industry have set up shop in Brazil to supply a dynamic domestic market.  Here are some examples:
On the domestic side, rapid growth in all sectors of the economy, leveraged by exports, has increased personal incomes for the jobholding population, increased formal employment and generally raised wages. The nation also experienced expanding credit and installment plan sales, all of which contributed to the increase in food consumption.
The primary indicators for the food industry in 2004 are listed in the following pages.  They show that annual billing revenues amounted to $60.1 billion—  % of which was spent on food, and the remainder on beverages.
The food industry increased by 4. 1% in volume of production and by 4.2 % in real sales (adjusted for industry inflation).
The fact that real sales increased at a smaller rate than did production arises from several causes.  Among these are the appreciation of the brazilian currency, high interest rates and the retail market’s strong bargaining position in negotiations with the industry.
f eatures of the I ndustry
The food industry is part of the agribusiness chain of production which in 2004, according to the Nation
al Confederation of Agriculture, grossed R$534 billion (30.2% of GDP). The food industry itself accounted for 1 .6% of agribusiness GDP in terms of added value, which means R$64.2 billion.
In terms of added value, the food industry accounts for 50. % of all industrial agricultural processing, and 41. % of farm and ranch production.  Brazil’s food industry, represented by the ABIA, is extremely productive.
Gross revenues in 2004 added up to R$1 6.1 billion.  Of that total, R$152.5 billion came from food products and R$23.6 billion from beverages.  This represents 10% of Brazil’s GDP and a 1 % share of the transformation industry.  The sector provides jobs to 1,066 workers, about 1 .2% of all jobs in the transformation industry, according to the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE).
The sector comprises 40, 00 going concerns, according to the same source:  5.6% are microenterprises, 10.5% small businesses, 3.0% medium-sized businesses and 0. % large companies, defined as those having more than 500 employees. Medium-sized companies employ
100 to 500 employees, small from 20 to    and microenterprises up to
1  employees.