TORRES VEDRAS, PORTUGAL -- Portugal's third-largest cheese producer is headed for the SIAL Montreal show with a big goal in mind: finding international distributors who can reach beyond clusters of Portuguese expatriates as part of a strategy to increase sales tenfold in the next three years.
do (a mixture of goat, cow and ewe's milk covered with paprika); and Ribafria (100% goat's milk covered with black peppercorn).
A key selling feature for Saloio is its certification by the European Community for both quality and traceability, according to Jorge de Heredia, Saloio's general director of sales.
"We put a lot of hope in this show, especially for Canada," he said. "We need an importer to work the whole market and not only the Portuguese community."
According to de Heredia, the challenge "is not only to find importers but also to communicate with the market and to get more experience with details we can only find if we come to this event."
Currently, Saloio cheese is imported into the United States through New York City-based Forever Cheese, and into Canada through Newport and Ferma, both based in Toronto. But with additional contacts in North America and throughout the world, the company hopes to increase its sales by 10 times in the next three years, de Heredia said.
