The food salt market - Brazil

1.1 Definition and scope of study

The food salt market is structured around two main segments: salt for the private sector (table salt, kitchen salt) and salt for the food industry (basic raw material). Used as a preservative, food salt provides the human body with two essential nutrients :

• Chloride, an important energizer
• Sodium, important for the hydromineral balance of cells and the body

This essential condiment combines the aromas of sodium ions and chloride to give a characteristic salty taste to the food it accompanies or into which it is incorporated. Although moderate amounts of salt are essential for health, excessive amounts of salt can be harmful. In the two markets mentioned above - B2B and B2C - salt producers have seen their production volume decline over the last decade, driven by fierce foreign competition in a context of food and health communication campaigns.

Brazilians are big salt consumers, exceeding almost twice the maximum limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is five grams per day. The national average is 9.3 grams. Even so, about 48.6% of Brazilians evaluate their daily consumption of salt as moderate according to data compiled by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Despite its consumption throughout the country, Brazilian food salt has 95% of its production concentrated on the White Coast, located in Rio Grande do Norte. After centuries of salt extraction activity in Brazil, businessmen in the industry realized the enormous potential of the White Coast: with a warm and dry semi-arid climate, with high evaporation factor. As a consequence, several resources were invested for the modernization of the activity, making the region the main production pole in the country.