Franchising Brasil — a sector project for the internationalization of Brazilian franchise brands carried out by means of a partnership between the Brazilian Association of Franchising (ABF) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) —, has started its new covenant in 2021 with the right foot. The project developed with the Guatemalan Association of Franchising (AGF) brought together entrepreneurs from Brazil and Central America via two webinars during the second fortnight of April.
In the first webinar, José Fernandez, CEO of AGF, talked in details about the franchising market in Central America, and especially in Guatemala. José presented some opportunities and potential sectors to be explored by Brazilians, and then he allowed the participants to ask questions and discuss the theme of internationalization.
In the second meeting that happened via Zoom last April 20th, representatives of Brazilian franchise chains Limpeza com Zelo, Maple Bear, Usaflex, Number One Chicken, Gela Boca Sorvetes, Sterna Café, Sportix Bike Shop, Grupo SD, HNT, Arranjos Express, Sapatop, Acquazero and CleanNew were present.
Each chain had the chance of introducing itself to investors and potential foreign partners. Also, the entrepreneurs shared experiences about expanding the business abroad during the pandemic. Despite the challenges and uncertainties, many companies saw in their international chains a way of growing even more and preparing the grounds for the reopening in the next few months.
The companies also took the opportunity to show their interests in the market of Guatemala and other countries in the Central America. According to representatives of AGF Fiorella Perini and José Fernández, many investors have already asked for the contact information of Brazilian entrepreneurs.
“Guatemala is the fifth largest franchising market in Latin America, and thanks to the event organized by ABF and AGF, investors from Central America now see Brazil as a great place where they can develop their chains, with the participation of international brands”, says José Fernandez. And he adds: “We expect some deals with Brazilian franchise chains in Central America to be closed in the next few months”.
“Those two webinars were very valuable for the market as a whole, and a great start for the new covenant of Franchising Brasil. This year we’ll have several projects to promote internationalization even during pandemic times”, says Bruno Amado, international executive manager of ABF and Franchising Brasil.
About Franchising Brasil
Franchising Brasil is a partnership between the Brazilian Association of Franchising (ABF) and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) aiming to support the strategy of internationalization of Brazilian franchising chains and their promotion abroad. The initiative was conceived to promote such well-known business model in the main international markets.