It was once a product "of the poor and of animals", but Carob World is transforming carob into products "cool and healthy'. Whether in the form of flour, “chocolate” tablets or spreads, the Algarve carob is already arriving in various parts of the world and, last Thursday, the company, which started taking its first steps in 2015, opened its factory, in Rio Seco, in Faro.
Carob World's slogan is: “This is not chocolate” but the product is as good as it is and of course it's much healthier.
"We want to provide guilt-free pleasure," explained João Currito, CEO of startup, to the guests at the opening ceremony of the manufacturing unit that began operating at the beginning of the year.
At the moment, the factory is producing «on order», but it has the capacity to manufacture «up to three tons a day of processed carob products», the entrepreneur told the Sul Informação.
For now, Carob World is «gaining market» and there is a lot to grow, he guaranteed.
This growth potential is not restricted to the national market, even because «we have a small market. Therefore, when working on innovation, we think of a global market. Obviously we work and have a commercial part completely dedicated to the national and Iberian market, but we have to look at the world. This is clearly an export product, either because of the particularity of the product or because of its attractiveness».
Currently, Carob World exports to 10 countries from the United States to South Korea and Singapore.
For now, the team of this startup it has 12 people, six in operations and six in marketing and sales, since, recalled João Currito, «we created a product category from scratch, which implies a great commitment to communication».
A team that is almost all made in University of Algarve, as well as the research that was at the base of the products.
If, for now, carob-based products are a novelty, in the future, João Currito believes that this will change. “I would say that in 5 or 10 years, these will be mainstream products, which will be massed. I have little doubt about that».
If this prediction comes true, 'new players, it's normal. Furthermore, we are talking about the food industry, where this is normal to happen. We, as a company, just have to grow to keep up and our idea is that in the medium term, when it comes to carob products, they are associated with Carob World. There, we have to work on the brand and the perception of quality of our products. That's what we work for every day», he stressed.
José Apolinário, president of the CCDR Algarve and one of the guests at the inauguration, was particularly appreciative of Carob World, one of those companies “that the Algarve needs to diversify the region's economic base”.
Maybe that's why, he revealed, "I've been at the CCDR for eight months and this project has always been very cherished."
Rogério Bacalhau, on the other hand, recalled the past and time of his grandfather who “used carob to give to the male and the mule”.
Now, he pointed out, "it is a product with a multitude of uses", and which comes, through the hand of Carob World, from the factory in Faro, to the world.
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