Market Report: Brazil

In Brazil, life passes at a relaxed pace, like the slow back beat of bossa nova. No matter what you're doing, there's always time for a cup of coffee and conversation. (Brazilians are, of course, fantastic talkers, often as voluble as the Amazon itself; ask a simple question and you'd be a fool to expect a simple answer. Rather, expect a deluge of information — some of it on topic, much of it pure surfeit.)

With such a relaxed outlook on life, it was no surprise that the National Handicrafts Fair (Feira Nacional Artesanatos) opened quietly on Tuesday, November 20 — almost as though the show was easing itself into existence. But there was another reason for the slow opening day: The first day of the Fair, held at the Expominas convention center in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, is reserved for wholesale buyers. The other four days of the show (November 21–25) are open to the general public.

One advantage of Retailer Day — as show organizers often refer to the opening day of the Fair — is that the relatively light traffic makes it easier to talk with artisans about their product. We know from experience that when the fair is in full swing, the aisles throng with eager consumers filling out their Christmas shopping lists.

And there's plenty to choose from, as the Handicrafts Fair offers everything from candies and liquors to decorative accessories, candles, jewelry, fashion accessories, apparel, books, lamps, horse saddles (a first at a show for us) and much more. And the media used to create these handicrafts are as encyclopedic as the categories. Resources include precious metals, semi-precious gems, wood, woven textiles, leather and iron. But they also include traditional and indigenous media such as seeds, fruits, natural fibers, recycled materials and vegetables expertly decorated to produce art objects. In short, the selection is as vast as Brazil.

Of course, this isn't surprising, as the Fair's organizers make a special effort to include artisans from each of Brazil's 26 states. Sometimes that means offering subsidies to artisans who cannot afford to pay for their booth space. But organizers say it's worth the effort to make the Handicrafts Fair a truly national show.

As one artisan told us: “Each year the Fair has a new face.”

Feliciano Ferreira Maciel, owner and designer of Feliciano BH, has been attending the National Handicrafts Fair for 12 of the event's 18 years, exhibiting decorative and functional pieces such as coat hangers, candleholders and wall art using a combination of iron, wood and zinc. His signature is a flower made of thinly shaved iron “paper,” which is dipped in zinc (to prevent rusting), painted and mounted on wood.

Maciel noted that when artisans are at the Fair, it is important for them to know how to sell not only to consumers, but also to wholesale buyers — especially to “big stores.”

“It is very important for artists to set a wholesale price,” he said.

While setting a lower wholesale price for product might seem elementary to American vendors (and buyers) the same cannot be said for many of the artisans at the Brazilian Handicrafts Fair. The reason for the disparity has to do with the nature of the Fair, which has traditionally been a consumer market for vendors. (It's no fluke that we've spent the last two Thanksgivings in Brazil — South Americans do their Christmas shopping at the same time as North Americans.) Indeed, for many of the artisans at the Fair — as for retailers everywhere — these November sales represent a large portion of their yearly income. In their minds, setting a lower wholesale price may seem a loss of income in their most valuable selling month.

The differing perspectives of wholesale buyers and artisans have created an obstacle in the path of Brazilian artifacts reaching the rest of the world. In the two years we have attended the Handicrafts Fair, European and U.S. buyers invited by show organizers have repeatedly expressed frustration at both the terms of payment and fulfillment offered by vendors at the Fair.

To remedy this problem, show organizers and sponsors, such as Instituto CentroCAPE and Mãos de Minas (a cooperative organization representing over 7,000 artisans in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais) have worked to educate domestic vendors and foreign buyers, and help them understand one another better. Such organizations are facilitating communication and trade between the artisans of Brazil and overseas buyers in an effort to introduce this beautiful product to the wider world.

So, is it working? In small ways, yes. But it will take some time before buyers and vendors are on the same page. Still, no one seems to be getting anxious about it. They'll sit back, have a cup of coffee and let things come to pass at a relaxed pace.

After all, this is Brazil.

For the complete Brazil gift show report, visit www.giftsanddec.com and click on “Direct From Market.”