Brazilian Franchises To Participate For The First Time At Franchise Expo In Los Angeles

Yahoo Finance:

Brazilian companies will be in LA for the West Coast Franchise Expo-2006, which occurs November 3-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, seeking local partners for the expansion of their businesses in the American market.

In the World Franchising Council rankings, Brazilian franchising is in 6th place worldwide and is engaged in a complete expansion internationally. Among other companies, visitors to the Brazil Pavilion can get to know such top brands as Rosa Cha (apparel), Livraria Nobel, Showcolate (food), Wizard (language instruction) and Global Franchise (consulting), as well as learning more about the local market at the booth of the Associação Brasileira de Franchising (ABF). The Brazil Pavilion has the support of APEX-Brasil.

‘Today, more than 30 Brazilian franchises are operating overseas with great success, and the United States is a key country for the system’s international expansion in coming years,’ says Ricardo Camargo, director of the ABF.

Brazilian franchising has annual billing of about US$16 billion and has 971 networks. Brazilian brands in Los Angeles:

* Showcolate – specializing in chocolate-covered fruit ’shish kebab’ and fruit for chocolate fondue dipping. It has 30 outlets in the US and Portugal and another 30 are in the process of opening in various countries around the world.

* Rosa Cha – produces a differentiated product with quality standards in accordance with the market positioning parameters acquired in Brazil and abroad. In 1997, Rosa Cha entered the American market, and today the brand is traded at major American stores. It has distributors in the US, Europe, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. It also has showrooms in New York, Porto, Paris, London and Milan.

* Global Franchise – A pioneer in Brazil, it will take part in the event representing the following brands in search of master, regional and single franchisees: Golden Services, Microlins, Embelleze, Combate and Vivenda do Camarão.

* Livraria Nobel – The company would like to continue its expansion in the international domain, billing itself as the biggest chain of bookstores in the world.

* Wizard – network of language schools that has grown the most in its segment with more than 1,200 franchises in Brazil. It already has outlets abroad.