2018 May Board Book

It is good news that eight cheeses produced in Mexico will not be classified as exclusive for the European Union within the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Mexico. The eight cheeses that Mexico already has secured are the gouda, mozzarella, edam, provolone, brie, camembert, emmental and pecorino. From 58 cheeses, that the European Union requested to use exclusively, the eight most important already have been secured by Mexico, 40 were not relevant for the country, that is, Mexico granted Europe the exclusive use of these cheeses, while the remaining 10 cheeses, including Manchego, are still being battled. Retail During March, Imalinx culminated activities with two new retail chains. Between La Comer and Mega Soriana CMAB has presence in 42 stores in more than 5 cities. Both chains have cheese with the RCM and RCC seals – Jacks portfolio, Cheddar, Provolone, Mozzarella, etc. under two brands. The activities are separated in 3 blocks – April/May, August and November/December. A total of 1,512 demo days will be executed throughout the year. Trade Shows ANTAD is the leading International Exhibition with 35 editions focused on Retail Industry and all the Supplying Chain, from Distribution to Foodservice. Expo ANTAD & Alimentaria Mexico gives the opportunity to contact some of the Associated chains and have business meetings with the exhibitors during the show. Imalinx and CMAB coordinated the participation of California milk processors during ANTAD trade show. The activities included logistics, booth assistance, logistics and meetings arranged with potential retail buyers and importers. A total of 7 processors were part of the show: Rosa Brothers, Fit Pro, Rumiano Cheese, JoeFroyo, Marin French, Rizo Lopez Foods, and Karoun Dairies. Also in attendance was HarbyrCo – the export company for international. A market brief was presented by Marco Albarran, Imalinx CEO, who provided market information, policies, agricultural trade with Mexico, dairy market in the country for retail and foodservice. Twelve key contacts approached the booth with the processors looking for follow up and new products to refresh the dairy category they have nowadays. Over 35 one on one meetings were held in two days. Part of the trip was trade visits to different stores for processors to understand and see the different formats, store layouts, categories, market, etc. After the trade show, Imalinx and CMAB found that California dairies are well known and with the activities are starting to get other Mexican players like Lala, San Jacinto, and Nescafé to mention us. Retailers and distributors are willing to extend the category with gourmet and quality products that differentiate from domestic products and from other chains.