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Where Caravela trades

Arab markets first. Then the suppliers who feed them.

We are starting with the Gulf, the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, Iraq and Türkiye. The next step is to bring in manufacturers and raw-material suppliers from Africa and South America who want to sell into them.

Request access How it works
  • Every company checked by a person
  • Annual membership
  • No commission on trades

Where we are starting

Six regions that buy, make and re-export.

Between them they import a great deal of what they eat and use, make a great deal of it too, and trade it on to their neighbours. That is where a marketplace between companies is most useful.

  1. 01

    The Gulf

    Most of the food eaten in the Gulf is imported, and its ports re-export packaged goods across the region and on to Africa and South Asia.

    • United Arab Emirates
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Kuwait
    • Qatar
    • Bahrain
    • Oman
  2. 02

    The Levant

    Import-dependent markets served by experienced importers and distributors, next to food producers who sell across the region.

    • Lebanon
    • Jordan
    • Syria
    • Palestine
  3. 03

    Egypt

    The largest consumer market in the Arab world, and one of its largest bases for food and household-goods manufacturing.

    • Egypt
  4. 04

    North Africa

    Established food-processing industries in Morocco and Tunisia, large import needs in Algeria and Libya, and ports facing both Europe and West Africa.

    • Morocco
    • Algeria
    • Tunisia
    • Libya
  5. 05

    Iraq

    A large, young market that imports much of its packaged food and household goods.

    • Iraq
  6. 06

    Türkiye

    A large manufacturer of packaged food, confectionery and household goods, and a long-standing supplier to its Arab neighbours.

    • Türkiye

What comes next

Suppliers from Africa and South America.

A good share of what the Arab markets buy — sugar, poultry, coffee, cocoa, tea — is grown on these two continents. Once the first markets are under way, we intend to go out and find the suppliers there. The countries below are examples of where that supply comes from, not a list of members.

  • African suppliers

    Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana grow most of the world’s cocoa, Kenya and Ethiopia export tea and coffee, and South Africa and Nigeria have large food industries of their own.

    • Côte d’Ivoire
    • Ghana
    • Nigeria
    • Kenya
    • Ethiopia
    • South Africa

  • South American suppliers

    Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of sugar, soybeans and poultry, and Argentina of soybean oil and meal. The Arab markets have bought Brazilian sugar and poultry for decades.

    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Uruguay
    • Paraguay
    • Chile

Companies from any country can apply. The regions on this page are where we are putting our effort first, not a rule about who is let in.

Inside Caravela

Where you trade is part of who you are.

Countries are not a tag on the side. They are how members find each other.

  • On every profile

    Each company names its country of registration and every country it buys from or sells into.

  • On every listing

    Where the goods come from, where they are now, where they ship to or where they are needed.

  • In every search

    Filter listings by country of origin and by the countries they ship to, and the company directory by country.

Trade in these markets? Tell us which ones.

It takes a few minutes to apply. Name where you are based and every country you buy from or sell into — that is how other members will find you.

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