Frimesa increases bet on innovative processed products
Cooperatives may not face the same pressure to generate profits as private companies, but they still need to ensure returns for their members. That is the case for Frimesa, Brazil’s fourth-largest pork producer and exporter.
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The cooperative, which competes with giants such as JBS and MBRF at a time when prices are declining both domestically and internationally, plans to double annual investments to R$200 million over the next four years to adjust production processes and renew part of its portfolio, increasing the share of innovative products with higher profit margins. Amid market ups and downs, this is how it intends to ensure returns for its members, according to CEO Elias José Zydek.
Although the company exports 25% to 30% of its production—serving a total of 38 destinations—it sees the greatest opportunities for returns in the domestic market. While importers prefer to buy fresh cuts for consumers to prepare with local seasoning, in Brazil the cooperative can adapt its offerings to changing consumption trends.
In the Brazilian market, 58% of its portfolio already consists of established processed products such as cheeses, hams, bologna and salami. But Frimesa wants to increase the share of what it calls “innovation products.”
“We are a cooperative system. I am not pressured to deliver millions in results, but to remunerate the producer,” Zydek told Valor during the International Animal Protein Show (Siavs), an event held this week in São Paulo. “The producer wants to produce more, so we need to add value to ensure surpluses [profits].”
With more than 2,500 member producers of pork and dairy cattle linked to five cooperatives in Paraná—Copacol, Copagril, Lar, C.Vale and Primato—Frimesa plans to add 41 products inspired by new consumption trends to its portfolio of more than 560 items this year alone. These include the growing demand for higher protein intake and products that are healthy, quick and easy to prepare.
One of the company’s bets is a pork ham-based protein bar weighing about 400 grams, with 20 grams of protein. The idea is to sell the product—which is still under development and is expected to reach the market in early 2027—in gyms, gas stations, supermarkets and other retail outlets. The company also plans innovations in its cheese lines, according to the executive.
A recent launch inspired by new Brazilian consumption habits is schnitzel, a breaded pork product served in strips that is traditional in Germany. New products also include sausages inspired by international recipes, such as Spanish chistorra, specialty hamburgers and a children’s line of yogurts and dairy drinks called “5 zeros” (zero sugar, lactose, trans fats, saturated fats and cholesterol).
The strategy of keeping pace with consumer changes is part of a long-term expansion plan that includes increasing pork slaughter capacity by 45%, raising its share of Brazil’s pork market from 8.5% to 14% and doubling revenue to R$15 billion by 2032. Frimesa opened a commercial office in São Paulo this year and recently invested R$1.35 billion in its new facility in Assis Chateaubriand, Paraná.
These transformations will also help Frimesa deal with market volatility. This year, for example, the decline in the dollar against the real has reduced Brazilian exporters’ revenue in local currency. Pork prices are falling worldwide, reflecting weaker Chinese demand after China rebuilt its hog herds, which had been reduced by African swine fever.
As a result, Frimesa lowered its 2026 revenue forecast. Its previous estimate was R$8.1 billion, which would have represented a 14% increase from 2025; the new projection is for 5.6% growth, reaching R$7.5 billion. Even so, Zydek maintains an expected 8% increase in production and exports, a pace similar to recent years.
In foreign markets, in addition to expanding into destinations that have helped offset weaker Chinese demand, such as the Philippines, Singapore and Chile, Zydek expects sought-after markets including Japan, South Korea and Mexico—currently closed to Brazilian pork—to open to the product in 2026. Japan imports pork only from Santa Catarina, the first Brazilian state to achieve foot-and-mouth disease-free status without vaccination. Frimesa expects to export 140,000 tonnes of pork this year, about 20,000 tonnes more than in 2025.
