The company, established in Brazil in Jaú, São Paulo, 20 years ago has one manufacturing facility producing chewy and hard candy, bubblegum and lollipops.
Halal certification
Marco Forti, director, Toffano, told ConfectioneryNews, it already exports its products to Europe, the US and over 30 countries worldwide, and recently entered the Middle East by attending tradeshows in the region including Gulfood and Yummex in Dubai.
“This is the third year we have come to Dubai, we started exporting our products first to the Yemen, followed by Iran, and now we hope to widen our market scope in this region,” he said.
Forti added its most popular sweets include the chewy candy Toffrut, and Lollygum, a candy filled with bubblegum.
The company is now looking at Halal certification to expand across all markets. To be certified halal, the ingredients in their sweets must be sourced from halal bi-products and the raw materials which are used to make the products Halal are handled very carefully and are provided by a Halal slaughter house.
For example, to use beef sourced gelatine derived from Beef Livestock from a Halal slaughterhouse, the beef livestock is not stunned before slaughter, and the process is followed according to Sha’aria Islamic teachings, where the name of Allah is spoken before slaughter, and the process allows all the blood to drain naturally from the animal’s carcass before it is taken for further preparation.
Café Gold
“Our Café Gold has proven to be popular in Yemen. The sweet, made with real coffee is like drinking coffee. Another popular candy is our hard candy with bubblegum Brinq Bol. They are the best sellers in this country,” said Forti.
A total of 10 Brazilian companies attended Yummex Middle East part of Gulfood Manufacturing at Dubai World Trade Centre (November 7-9).
Docile, Montevérgine, Riclan and Toffano took part in conjunction with ABICAB (the Brazilian Chocolate, Cocoa, Peanuts, Candies and Byproducts Industry Association) and Bauducco, Dallas, Marilan, Millen, Multibrands Export and M. Dias Branco are linked to the Brazilian Biscuits, Pastaand Industrialized Breads & Cakes Project from the Brazilian Manufacturers Association of Biscuits, Pasta and Industrialized Breads and Cakes (ABIMAPI), both belong to the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
João Ricardo, export manager, Montevérgine, said the UAE and North Africa are strategic markets for the company. It was exhibiting its Torrone nougat bar and wafer rolls line at the show, it plans to release its wafer rolls in smaller snack sizes for children this year.