Food industry in Rio Grande do Sul surpasses 150,000 jobs generated

Rio Grande do Sul, which has a share of 9.3% in the net sales revenue of the country’s food industry, recorded last year a 3.3% increase in direct jobs in this sector, compared to 2021 , reaching around 150.2 thousand vacancies. On the other hand, the segment had in the State, which has around 3,800 companies operating in this field, a drop of 0.5% in terms of physical production.

The executive president of the Brazilian Association of the Food Industry (Abia), João Dornellas, explains that the evolution of jobs, despite the reduction in production, can be explained because some areas of the market have more intensive use of labor than others, such as , for example, dairy products. The leader presented this Thursday (9) performance figures for the Brazilian food industry in 2022 and perspectives for 2023.

Last year, for the first time in its history, the sector surpassed BRL 1 trillion in revenues, reaching a result of BRL 1.075 trillion. In the country, around 1.8 million direct jobs were registered, an increase of approximately 58 thousand jobs compared to 2021. The leader points out that 24.3% of jobs in the manufacturing industry in Brazil are linked to the segment. As for investments, in 2022 the food sector contributed around BRL 23.6 billion in innovations, mergers and acquisitions.

Dornellas argues that last year saw a good performance and could be even better, if the war between Russia and Ukraine, two major global grain producers, did not occur. Regarding market prices, he emphasizes that the costs of agricultural products have skyrocketed worldwide and the coronavirus pandemic has also put pressure on prices. “Food is expensive here (Brazil) and all over the world”, points out the Abia representative. The average cost of food production in the country last year, compared to 2021, grew by 15%. However, he points out that in the second half of the year there was a downward trend.

Of the sales of the national food industry in 2022, 72% were destined for the domestic market and 28% for exports. Among the main products shipped abroad are meat, sugar, soy bran and others. The most popular destinations were countries like China, the United States, India and the Netherlands.

For 2023, the director adds that the sector’s performance will depend on the unfolding of the Brazilian economy. Abia is working, at the moment, with the projection of an increase in the national GDP of 0.8% to 1%. If this estimate is confirmed, the Brazilian food industry should have an increase in real sales of 1.5% to 2%. In terms of employment, the increase should be in the order of 0.5% to 1%.

This Thursday, Abia also launched the publication “Has Food, Has Value. Food Industry: science, health and safety on the table of Brazilians”, which brings together information about the sector and addresses the history of food processing. In addition, it presented the platform “temcomidatemverdade.com.br” with the aim of clarifying myths and facts about this branch of the economy, such as whether processing destroys the nutritional properties of foods or whether chicken meat has hormones.