The company, formerly known as Agtal, rebranded as Enova Foods last year following its acquisition by Casadoce in 2014, and now produces chocolate powder, peanuts, nuts, paçocas, powdered drinks, snacks and desserts.
Fiji, Peru and the Bahamas
The Agtal brands comprise Brazil Peanut, Deliçoca, Frutim, Glup, Milkin, Mixed Nuts, Promix, Rizzo and Up!.
Aline Campos, international sales executive, Enova Foods, told BeverageDaily the firm exports to Canada, Uruguay, Paraguay, Grenada, French Guiana and Congo and this year expanded into Fiji, Peru and the Bahamas, with more plans to attend global exhibition shows.
“We want to develop products that we don’t already have on the market with the future consumer in mind. We are looking for easy geographic penetration and sales growth,” she said.
She said that since the takeover, the company has launched six protein nut bars and another three flavors in apricot, coconut and cranberry, targeting the healthy food sector, to expand in that market.
“Agtal mixed nuts bar original flavor is the best seller. It was originally created for on-the-go snacking and portion size control, as an alternative to carrying a packet of loose nuts in a bag.
“We also launched a collagen tea beverage which is proving to be a big hit with consumers.”
Following the merger, Campos said Enova Foods shut down a factory in Rio de Janeiro and moved its processing facilities to Agtal in Queluz, with 150 staff, 40km from the ‘biggest forest of peanuts’ in the state of São Paulo.
The state of São Paulo agricultural areas consist of two regions: Alta Paulista and Alta Mogiana comprised of the cities of Tupã, Marília, Dumont, Ribeirão Preto, Jaboticabal and Sertãozinho.
Powdered juices, collagen & isotonic drinks
Enova Foods, which employs up to 600 people, also has a factory in Catanduva where it produces powdered juices, collagen and isotonic drinks.
Renata Roncari, quality and development coordinator, Enova Foods, works between the two factories as well as an office in São Paulo.
She said Catanduva is a HACCAP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) certified facility where it analyses raw material, such as peanuts, for aflatoxins - poisonous and cancer-causing chemicals produced by certain molds found in food.
“We examine the moisture of the peanuts before they are sent for processing. This is critical as we can’t verify the toxin after production once we’ve put it in a product,” she said.
“We monitor the moisture and humidity so it is not developed in the product and we have good conditions here to achieve this. Peanuts, cashews and almonds are generally fried before production and salted and used in all six of our whole nut flavors. Other ingredients include fruits and seeds, which we mix with agglutinate syrup.
“While it is still hot we laminate the product to make a compression of the nuts then we freeze them and cut them prior to packaging. Packaging is provided by Liteq and Gotesp, which also works with Nestlé.
“We have to invest in good suppliers for a good quality product and we like the facility in Queluz because it’s a quiet place with friendly, reliable staff.”
Exports to the US and Canada
Campos said Enova was the first company in Brazil to launch a snack bar with whole nuts and fruit because prior to that, it was granola and rice.
- Production capability of powdered soft drinks: 24,880 ton/year and nut-based snacks: 12,000 ton/year.
- First company to launch collagen and isotonic in powder format in Brazil
- Gross sales of $200m per year with Ebitda margin around 15% (2020 fiscal year) through organic growth and M&A projects.
“We created a new line of wholeness, healthy, eating for consumers who think more about what they are eating. The mixed nut bars are the main product of the company," she said.
“We have also grown our powdered drink products line, which we export to the US and Canada.
“We have grown our IceAde powdered flavor drink mix up to 70% in Canada and we have launched Iso Sport powdered isotonic.”
Campos said Enova launched a line of collagen tea for the first time in May last year debuting it at the APAS Supermarket & Retail Trade Show in São Paulo.
“The product has been tested on both men and women and tests show that after four weeks consumers can see a difference in their skin if they drink the tea every day,” she added.
“Sales for this product are starting to take off because it’s easy to prepare and drink and you can’t taste the collagen. It just tastes like tea.”