All the sectors are widely represented by the companies present.

 

Food Industry

Food Industry continues to have an important space in the Portuguese economy. Its importance not only comes from its economic weight but also from the type of ‘product' because it ‘manufacturers' what we usually eat. This feature makes us all consumers who are especially sensitive to the safety of the product. That is why the problem of food safety and consumer's trust is currently one of the biggest concerns of this industry.

Food industry currently represents 25% of all the Portuguese industry. After Portugal's accession to the European Union, the creation of the single market in 1993 forces this sector to make an effort to harmonize all the rules of manufacturing and presentation, such as of the rules of labeling, hygiene and additives.
The connection between industry and production and between industry and Universities has encouraged the development of a more competitive industry that exports more and more. That is why this sector is no longer only connected to Portugal. The Food Industry in Portugal is included in the most developed sectors.

 

Olive Oil
Olive oil is a food product used as seasoning which is produced from olive. Thus, it is an ancient food product that is common in the contemporaneous gastronomy, regular in the Mediterranean food and it is currently present in the majority of kitchens. Apart from its benefits for human health, olive oil gives to food a particular flavor. Nowadays, the Mediterranean region is responsible for the olive oil world production, favored for its weather conditions, which enable the cultivation of olive trees due to the quantity of sun and dried weather. Covered by that region, Portugal recognizably produces the best olive oil of the world and it was one of the first products to be exported by Portugal. During the discovery times of XV and XVI centuries, olive oil and wine already made part of the list of the exported products. The reference to olive tree is very old in Portugal. Having methods of growing and cultivation of modern olive fields, Portugal makes part of the countries that produce olive oil and strongly invested in the methods of ultra modern olive oil extraction and production, which puts us on the first rank among the export countries. That is why our olive oil is together with wine the product that most contribute to our export balance trade.

Sector of Drinks, water, juices and beers
There is no treatment of bottled water in Portugal. All the Portuguese bottles of water on sale are 100% natural. The same does not happen in some countries. Unlike other natural resources or raw materials, subterranean water exists in the whole world. The possibility of being taken out varies a lot from local to local, depending on the conditions of rain and distribution of aquifers. Generally, subterranean water is only renewed in a certain time of the year but it can be taken out during the all year. As long as its restocking is appropriate and that the source is protected from pollution, subterranean water can be taken out indefinitely. Having several catchments of streams from north to south, Portugal gives to its consumers several brands of table, bottled and gasified water.
Acidity, heaviness, mineralization and quantity of salt are some of the features that distinguish bottled water from the one we find on our table. All the mineral water is unique and Portugal is proud of having some brands of this unique water.

 

Beers
The production of beer in Portugal has traditions and the first historical reference to a factory places it at Campo Grande in 1689. But it is in the XIX century, more precisely in 1819 that the ‘Introducing notes to the know-how of beer in Geneve' are published, where the beer consumption of Real Fábrica was recommended. At the end of that century, several units of beer production already existed in the Islands, in the Factory of Beers, Fizzy Drinks João Melo Abreu in Azores and the Atlantic Factory of Miles English family in Madeira, as well as in the North of Portugal where there were several units of beer production and fizzy drinks. At the end of XIX century it was possible to find ten beer factories in the continent. Nowadays, the beer production in Portugal is distributed from North to South, Madeira (Funchal) and Azores (Ponta Delagada). The Portuguese beer sector is technologically advanced, has the best available techniques, has the tradition of training its beer experts in the best European Universities and produces a beer of quality in the whole world, exporting about 18% of its production. The increase in exports shows the dynamism of the Portuguese beer sector, which has the following most relevant features: to present resources technically advanced, to be a constant innovation in the creation of new products and in the choice that it presents to the consumer, to be a competitive market that encourages that constant innovation and the existence of strong brands in Portugal and abroad.

 

Confectionery
Confectionery is another Portuguese top quality gastronomic sector. When we speak about confectionery we also have to speak about convent and regional confectionery, being this Portuguese producer sector an heir of this ancient knowledge. In the convent confectionery, whose secrets of preparation still remain since the time when nuns lived in the Convents, we have such a variety and flavors, which are unique in the world.
Therefore, the concept of ‘convent confectionery' is intimately related with the use of sugar in the kitchens of monasteries from the end of XX century. It was mainly in the convents that the preparation of sweets reached its greatest name.
It was in the convent confectionery that companies, which currently produce in industrial quantities, got the knowledge and practice and that it is why many are the ones that today make cakes and sweets of finest quality and it is consumers' acceptation that made them export what they best produce.
Before using sugar in Portugal, sweets were prepared with honey. Until Middle Age, sugar had an exclusive use for medicine purposes. In 1456, the first sugar from Madeira is exported to England and after Brazil's discovery and colonization the intensive culture of sugar begins.

 

The wines of Portugal
From north to south, this country is very rich in good wines and besides the unique wines of Oporto and Madeira, which are largely exported there are more than 100 types of wines, the table wines and the special wines. They all show the individual kind of the respective solo. Wine has an important place in human needs because it is the only drink that has itself a cultural value in the Greek and Latin civilization.

Even before Christianity, it represented more than a symbol. Wine has always been considered as the noblest drink, the first that it is given to a guest and the best that enables to appreciate the producer's talent. Thus, it is not a surprise that all rural life in Portugal has been so strongly marked by it.
Portugal is proud of its culture because it has a very rich patrimonial heritage, connected to vineyard and to wine and that dates back from a time much before to the foundation of Nationality.

It was one of the sectors that the businessmen of the sector more invested in the past few years in Portugal, through new cultivated fields, re-qualification of vineyards. It bets on in the Portuguese genuine and unique species of grapes, which distinguish from its difference and from manufacturing and bottling methods, as well as their sale. Portugal has its own species of grapes which distinguish us. In a wine country and due to the big quantity that it is produced, the investment is now exports. Wine is one of the products that is more exported, together with olive oil, arriving to the most diversified world markets.

 

Sausages and smoked meats
The products of meat transformation in Portugal present a variety of flavors, textures and shapes as a result from the diversity of raw materials, ingredients and manufacturing processes used.
The term ‘sausage factory' is known world-wide and covers all products of meat transformation and sausages are included, as well as all the smoked meats, like leg of pork, shoulders of pork and others.

 

Spices

Although each region of the planet has its own spices, the consumption of spices from tropical regions has developed in Europe since Crusades war. They were brought by Islamic world. In order to meet this demand, the trade between the West and the East has increased through several terrestrial and maritime roads, which not only united Europe internally, but also united Europe and China through the road of silk, as well as India through the road of spices. The Portuguese habit of consuming spices and its use as seasoning in the gastronomic preparations come from this time.
Spices are a combination of aromatic products, which show some unknown characteristics of the ingredients.
A spice that is put on a soft dish makes it pleasant. It can also be a miraculous seasoning in the last moment for many things, whether in salty pastries or sweets. The taste of the Portuguese gastronomy is due to its seasoning and the spices used. For instance, in the sector of sausages and smoked meats, one of the secrets is the way we season, using wine, olive oil, chili pepper or some aromatic herbs. One of the Portugal's regions that more uses these aromatic herbs is Alentejo through its gastronomy. There are some companies in Portugal that make and transform species, supplying consumers and the food industry with sauces and seasonings of finest quality, excellent acceptation, following the most demanding rules of quality control.

Dietetic Products

The natural food is pharmacy, which takes care of your health. ‘Nutripharmaceuticals' are food products or part of them that have the proved capacity of giving benefits to our health, as the prevention and treatment of diseases. The term ‘nutripharmaceutical' comes from ‘nutri', nutrient and ‘ceutic' from pharmaceutical, that is, food products that feed and bring health. In fact, all natural food products, that is, the ones that were not industrially processed, can be called ‘functional' because it contains essential components in variable quantities for our health, such as vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fibers, etc. There is a small revolution on the shelves of the supermarkets where consumers, who are more and more aware and demanding, want ‘nutripharmaceuticals' food products on their tables, the ones that treated the health of their ancestors. In addition, there are companies in Portugal that concern with these demands and present cheese, ham, mortadella, smoked ham and sausages that have ‘Nutripharmaceuticals'products in their composition. For instance, there are companies in the cold meats sector that are now more addressed to products that have more value for the consumer. That's how the packages of ‘Nutripharmaceuticals'products arose, that is, products with omega 3, so that those who have cholesterol problems may eat freely. Some food products are also made with a natural fiber, which is going to have a ‘bifidogenic' effect in our body and make these products biological.

 

In Portugal is used, predominantly, beef and pork.
In recent years the industry of sausages has submitted an appreciable increase, expressed in the high number of manufacturing establishments installed and in the range of existing products.
Within this sector the traditional Portuguese products are unique products that come from the region that gives them the name and have a strong link with that region, so that it is possible to demonstrate that the quality of the product is influenced by the animals, soil, vegetation, climate and technology manufacturing. In this context came the adoption of strategies for commercial exploitation of traditional products through the certification and consequent allocation of marks: Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG).
The certification process is an important step in protecting these products since it seeks to ensure the hygiene conditions with which they are produced, it respects the traditional methods of production ensuring the authenticity and origin of products.

 

Fruits and vegetables

A growing number of traditional Portuguese products have the right to use a name that describes and shows its origin, reputation, authenticity or tradition.
As a food safety concern of the European Community, the agro-food products with Designation of Origin, Protected Geographical Indication, with guaranteed tradition, that is, with guaranteed quality and specificity, appear to consumers as a safe alternative. Portugal is proud to have a good range of fruit designations of origin and protected geographical indication.
For example, the Apple of Alcobaça the Rocha Pear, the Apple Bravo Esmolfe, the Cherry from Cova da Beira to Plum of Elvas, or the Banana from Madeira, the pineapple from Azores among others.
These fruits have come to the table of international consumers and distinguish themselves by the taste of excellence. Besides the fruit, the market for greens and vegetables produces many varieties in quality and incomparable taste and that has already been exported on a large scale.
All these identified protected and valued products constitute an important asset for rural areas, helping to curb the desertification of human poorer regions, developing and complementing existing resources, creating jobs, preserving the natural environmental conditions, respecting the existing ecosystems and biodiversity, while respecting consumers who focus on quality.

 

Dairy

Portugal is a country of good pastures and pasturing as always been present, either as means of subsistence, or as an important traditional activity.
Clearly, in land of herd, cheese and milk are kings. The dairy sector in Portugal and in the Azores distinguishes itself by the high quality of produced milk which makes our country more than self-sufficient. Therefore, a large part is exported.
Speaking of the dairy sector, is associated with speaking about cheese and Portugal is proud to produce high quality cheese for the national and international market of several varieties and flavors, produced in regions with good pastures, by cattle created mostly outdoors.
Of the various types of cheese available, made from milk from sheep, cow, goat or mixture, the consistency of paste, the taste and degree of fat, vary from region to region.
Making cheese is an art, which comes to the table as an important element of food of the region and demonstrates the skill of the hands that give it shape.
It is in the ongoing to preserve the Portuguese cheeses that have been created "Geographical Areas of Production." Currently there are eleven "protected designations of origin" (PDO) and a "geographical indication" (GI), where: cheese of Azeitão, cheese of Beira Baixa, Transmontano Goat cheese, cheese of Serra da Estrela, cheese of Évora, cheese of Nisa, cheese of Pico, cheese of Rabaçal, cheese of Serpa, cheese of S. Jorge and cheese of Terrincho.

 

Biological Products

Today we talk much in organic products, where the word Natura is associated par excellence.
But what is organic product?
An organic product comes from Organic Mode of Production and the organic production mode is a production system of ecological base, which uses the use of good agricultural practices for the maintenance and improvement of soil fertility, the balance and diversity of the agricultural ecosystem, promoting the environmental quality, the animal well-being and human health. To that end, it uses cultural, biological and mechanical methods, when possible, rather than synthetic materials, and employs no chemical fertilizers or pesticides synthesis. With a demand that exceeds supply, reflecting the growing concerns of consumers with the food quality and environmental preservation, this sector has been growing in Portugal. The SISAB prides itself on its vast exhibitors of counting with the presence of some "Bio" companies. The most rigorous international studies say that the vegetables grown on organic farming strengthen the immune system and the movement of vitamin E in the blood.
The Organic Farming has been affirmed as a way to produce more healthy foods.
As the chemical syntheses are not allowed in organic fertilizers, the "organic" products have naturally a lower level of nitrates and promote the environmental quality.

 

A paradise of canned and frozen fish

The fact that Portugal has the Atlantic coast as neighbor, led of course, to a gastronomy made from the products that the sea offers.
The cod occupies its place of honor at the Portuguese table during the whole year and, thanks to the Portuguese it was internationalized from the host countries, by the different way that the Portuguese prepare and cook the cod.
Since a long-time that sailors go to Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland to fish.
In Portugal the cod is salted, dried and prepared in order to make a difference and keep the genuine taste of the good cod.
We pride ourselves on having the best of processing companies of fish in the international scene occupying positions of prominence in the marketing and export.
In addition to this, we fish and transform specialties of fish like sole, red mullet, hake and swordfish. And finally the last but not the worst, a fish less expensive but more tasty - the sardines, an essential snack in barbecues and outdoor parties a bit throughout the country. In the seafood we have crabs, mussels and other shellfish. The sector of fish in Portugal and manufacturing industries export large part of it.
To this sector, is associated a very strong industry - canned food - There exist for more than two centuries important companies of the sector with large volumes of export, being our canned food - tuna and sardines- one of the products that is more exported. The industry of canned food produces for the domestic market and for export, canned tuna, sardines, octopus among others, with the achievement of several of gold medals in international competitions.