December 7, 2021
Maurício Bortolanza is director of new business at Kicaldo, which is one of the biggest bean suppliers in Brazil. In an interview with Ana Krepp, Maurício shares some in-depth insights into the country’s pulses market.
Kicaldo is a family business founded by my father and his partners more than 20 years ago. I’ve been following the company’s growth since I was little and I'm now the second generation of owners. Before I joined the company, I lived abroad for a while, studied business administration and worked in consultancy. Since I started working at Kicaldo, I have been part of the company's day-to-day life, learning, working and doing my best. Now my life is all about beans! It's a daily challenge and being a family business means everyone has to do a little bit of everything.
How long has Kicaldo been operating and what are the company’s biggest achievements?
Kicaldo was founded over 22 years ago in São Paulo. We’ve always been mainly focused on beans and have built a renowned, leading brand in the national market. We’re the only bean company that serves all the Brazilian states, which is impressive when you consider the size of the country! We have a capacity of more than 20,000 tons of beans/month.
About 3 years ago, we launched a line of peas, chickpeas, lentils (all of which were imported) and cassava flour. Personally, I’m proud of our expansion into these new products;
with a clear visual identity, good price positioning and a commitment to quality, we’ve seen great results. The important thing is to always be connected to new trends, whether that be with products, partnerships or even marketing strategies.
We also won the Nielsen award in the beans category and were named among the biggest and best companies of the year in Exame Magazine and Globo Rural.
At the beginning of the pandemic, like in the rest of the world, people were rushing to supermarkets and panic buying, which naturally led to atypical peaks in sales. Since we work with a staple and very important food product, our team has not stopped for a day since the beginning of the pandemic. We follow all the sanitary protocols so that we can continue to supply the population. Now, demand has normalized again but prices for materials, such as packaging and gasoline, are still very high. However, I believe that the worst is over and we are going to come out stronger as a company and a society.
The Brazilian businessman is a juggler. Brazil is not for amateurs - every day we have a different challenge, a high tax burden and a lot of bureaucracy. Most businesses close after less than a year. But it's our country and I have to believe in its future.
Each state in Brazil has different characteristics, whether by way of the type of beans or the amount consumed per capita. In the south, for example, black beans are the most popular, with consumption per capita at about 10 kg per year. In other regions of Brazil, consumption is higher, reaching almost 15kg per capita in the northeast, for example. The most popular beans are carioca, followed by black and then some other varieties.
Brazilians love beans, they’re our national food: beans and rice. Due to the increase in food prices, some consumers tend to go with cheaper and lower quality brands, which is understandable - each individual has their own preference. Some say that consumption of beans has fallen over the years while other data shows it is quite stable, which I agree with.
This year there was a small drop in the production area, due to the high return of these other crops. Bean future contracts are not often made, especially in Rio de Janeiro, so the producer always ends up organizing himself according to profitability, which can mean he often chooses to plant soy or corn instead of beans. That being said, I don't see any cause for concern; even if production does drop, crops tend to be cyclical.
To be honest, my opinion is that Brazilians have not welcomed pinto beans into their diets.
Attempts have already been made to integrate them without success, although factors such as distance, freight and exchange rates are also causes for that failure. The national market is very dynamic and prices can change daily so waiting for a container longer than 40 days, in this case, can be bad.
It is a market that we are studying and we are definitely paying attention to new trends. We have some partnerships in progress that are aimed at this market - for example, we supply beans to a company that develops plant-based meat.
Kicaldo is a sponsor of Santos FC, what is, in your opinion, the advantage of sponsoring a football club?
Yes, we have been sponsoring Santos for almost 3 years. Santos FC is one of the most well-known teams in Brazil and, indeed, in the world, as it’s where Pelé launched his career.
Kicaldo was already a renowned company in the food sector but our goal is to be known by as many people as possible, which was one of our motivations for aligning ourselves with the club. It was cool to see Neymar wearing a shirt with our logo on it!
Consumers today have all the information they need to make purchasing decisions in the palms of their hands; companies that are not making the most of new technologies and sales channels will be at a disadvantage in the long run. The pandemic has accelerated the development of the consumer experience by several years.
Regarding Brazil specifically, I see us advancing very strongly in the pulses market, not only as a consumer but also in the export market. I'm happy to be a part of this!
READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Disclaimer: The opinions or views expressed in this publication are those of the authors or quoted persons. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Global Pulse Confederation or its members.
