Publisher’s Page
October 1, 2010 If you are not already doing business with Brazil, my unequivocal advice is, “Jump in!”
If your business involves cotton, then that recommendation is far from outrageous. But this is not business advice.
No, this suggestion is based on the seldom-mentioned fourth tier of sustainability. Along with a business’s long-term economic viability, its respect for and protection of the environment, and the positive social impact it makes, to be truly sustainable it must also be pleasant to operate, fulfilling and, ideally, fun. Otherwise, an early grave may beckon. And, simply put, doing business in Brazil, or at least with Brazilians, is fun.
Despite my limited experience–with only three visits to Brazil so far, in addition to publishing this issue’s Special Brazil Report–I nevertheless feel qualified to endorse Brazil and Brazilians wholeheartedly for helping one recognize the fun required for true sustainability, and to embrace it.
Speaking of embracing, Brazilians typically sign off their emails not with “Best regards,” but with “Um abraço,” (a hug). To call them warm, and remarkably helpful, hospitable and friendly, may sound like hyperbole, but it isn’t. I find Brazilian professionals to be among the most responsive anywhere, replying promptly by phone and email. And when their answer is “no,” Brazilians tend to offer explanation for their reasoning and sometimes even apology.
Of course, when it comes to agriculture (and to cotton, in particular), Brazil has developed remarkably in a short time, if not miraculously. A net food importer not long ago, Brazil is now at or near the top in exports of soya, cotton, coffee, corn, orange juice, ethanol and sugar. The world’s top cotton importer 15 years ago, Brazil now supplies a million tons to its own burgeoning textile industry. Simultaneously, it is now one of the top five cotton exporters. Furthermore, without the slightest fanfare, industry leaders there say matter-of-factly that Brazil could easily double its cotton output in the blink of an eye.
If I haven’t yet convinced you to begin conducting cotton business in Brazil, read on.
Wait! I can’t send you on to the rest of this issue without first mentioning the Brazilians’ native and contagious joie de vivre. So excuse me now while I plan our next Brazil Report, which can’t come soon enough. And, no, in case you wondered, not a single “caipirinha” (Brazil’s national cocktail) has influenced this writing.
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