Coconut Brazilian producers ask for Government protection

For the first time, about 40 coconut producers of all Brazil met last week with representatives of the Ministry of agriculture to require measures to protect national industry.
"We suffered from the unfair competition from Asian markets. Some coconut water factories buy water there, produced in sanitary conditions and dubious labor, and dehydrate before you import ", explained to AFP Fernando Florence, Vice President of the National Union of Brazil's coconut Producers (Sindcoco).
"Once in Brazil, they reidratam with water, add sugar and sell a coconut nectar. The result is that consumers think they're drinking 100% natural coconut water, which is not the case. The factories make a competition with the rest of the domestic industry and ask for less coconut to the domestic producers, "he adds.
The small operators represent 75% of Brazilian producers of coconut.
In 2012, the brazilian brand Ducoco and the American company PepsiCo, owner of market-leading brand, Kero Coco, were pointed out by import your raw materials from Asia.
Asian plantations are dominated by coconut trees-giants, used to produce dried coconuts, which give the oil. The water from the coconut trees-Giants is little consumed and your price is much lower than that of green coconut water, for best quality.
The Brazilian producers also say they're concerned about Asian diseases in crops. Everyone thinks of the so-called "witches ' broom", which hit hard the country's cocoa trees and caused the decline in cocoa production.
Despite the list of orders full until 2020, Antonio Barbosa, Director of Tecnococo, one of the two Brazilian companies producing hybrid coconut seed, crossing between coconut trees Dwarves and Giants, is worried.
"We want to import pollen from coconut tree-Mexico giant to make a hybrid coconut tree even more resistant to pests. We have partners but, for now, we are blocked with the bureaucracy of the State ".