The high dollar and the greater concern of Brazilian and worldwide consumers with health boosted the consumption of fruit and, consequently, the market for producers in the São Francisco Valley. The region, which is the country's main exporter of mangoes and grapes, experienced a heated 2020 and has good prospects for 2021, as is the case with the Valexfruit cooperative.

  In the article published this month about the opportunities in the city of Petrolina, we spoke with the president of Valexfruit, Givaldo Macedo Soares. Founded only in 2018, the cooperative comprises 13 farms, employs around 600 employees and produces approximately 200,000 kg of fine table grapes per month. “Our cooperative started with the conversations of three people, who already knew the advantages of cooperativism. We had the desire to participate, but the union took more than a year to materialize and brought together 21 cooperative members, who together produce on 190 hectares.”

  Last year, in the midst of a pandemic, the cooperative carried out its first export, taking the grapes from the São Francisco Valley to the port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. From there the products were distributed to the countries of the European Union.

  With the increase in consumption and the positive scenario for exports, Valexfruit's revenue rose from 16 million in 2019 to 20 million in 2020. “The growth in consumption was a surprise, as we believed that with the pandemic and the closing of the restaurants there would be a reduction. But we increased our production due to people's search for better health and consequently more fresh fruit. This happened both in the domestic market and abroad. As some countries closed their jobs, there was a retraction in production and an increase in imports”, explains Givaldo Soares.