Rodrigo Alves Soares was born on December 26 1992 in Porangatu and like almost every young child in his country he got involved with football almost from the cradle He turned professional at 20 years of age and played for União São João scoring one goal in 14 games and producing performances which proved enough to secure him a ticket to play in Europe Porto signed him and installed him in the club’s B Team for the next two seasons, while in 2017 he had a six-month stint at Chaves on loan, making his first appearances in the Liga NOS. The following season, Rodrigo searched for a club in the top division to try and get the chance to show his full potential the Brazilian full-back made 33 appearances scored one goal and contributed two assists while he was also a regular starter during the team’s successful cup run which earned him his first trophy and the club’s first silverware in its history The second was to come in the 2018-19 season he was named as the best full-back in the Liga NOS that season as well as picking up numerous other accolades on a pan-European level Rodrigo’s excellent season had the scouts knocking on the door but it was PAOK who moved quicker and more methodical to being the Brazilian to Thessaloniki Rodrigo has celebrated one Greek Cup success and overall has made 63 appearances for the club scoring one goal and dishing out seven assists so far Plena Alimentos is based in Minas Gerais and started exporting back in 2013 Now it caters to nearly all Arab states and is investing in processed products to diversify its portfolio and boost sales São Paulo – A company that has sold frozen and chilled beef for over 30 years in the domestic market started exporting in 2013 and now ships to over 50 countries The Brazilian firm ships to nearly all Arab countries has been halal certified since 2015 and is diversifying its product range investing processed items like mince and meat balls for the foreign market Coordinator Beatriz Maia and Export Manager for Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Mohamad Sus talked to ANBA They said Plena ships to Arab states across all regions from North Africa to Levant and the Gulf Plena Alimentos joined the latest editions of Gulfood where it launched new items like halal mince and halal meat balls and we came back from it full of new business and people from around the world visit them,” said Maia “Before we were accredited for China in 2019 the Middle East accounted for 50% of our exports but [the Arab world] is still key for our business,” said Sus One of Plena’s plants is accredited to sell to China The manager said the Asian giant has some restrictions and doesn’t buy any product It requires for instance that the slaughter is held before 30 months of ages Beatriz Maia said Plena intends to widen the product mix for the Middle East and has a Research & Development team working on products that could boost its sales to the region and we want to step up our presence and develop more industrialized products as way to diversify our range,” she said The Arab countries that currently buy the most products from Plena are Libya Sus explained that the situation was once different “The market has fallen sharply in the Levant and beef consumption has declined in the country as a result,” he said but the beef is exported to Turkey and reaches the northern Iraq via land,” he said “To be successful in the Middle East you have to know the market We manage to deliver a customized service,” said Sus the halal-certified Brazilian firm caters to many non-Arab Muslim-majority countries and countries with Muslim populations Beatriz Maia explained that the trend is that the items are sold closer and closer to consumption and we want to cater to these people that want to buy meat but don’t have time to buy a 5-kg piece The goal is delivering a wider range of products for this consumer that have less time,” she said Plena works with importers and distributors that sell to the industry Plena works with three systems of livestock supply those of our partners who supply all year round and cattle from the cash or spot market,” said Maia Frozen and chilled pieces like filet mignon The firm sells various beef products in the domestic market and is launching a pet snack line dubbed Petsko Snacks Naturais The snacks are made from beef parts like ear and some of them has already been sold to the United States and this month we’re launching the Petsko brand in the domestic market,” said Maia The Gulf country has deposited its instrument of acceptance of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies which is aimed at curbing harmful subsidies that contribute to overfishing and promoting the sustainable management of global marine resources The Brazil-Arab News Agency (ANBA) is the news website of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce Its goal is to promote communication between Brazilians and Arabs.