Brasif reorganises amid Brex drive for growth

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Brasif operations director Fabiano Vivacqua is relocating to Miami to manage Brasif Duty Free?s US operations and to oversee the development of Brex America

Brasif operations director Fabiano Vivacqua is relocating to Miami to manage Brasif Duty Free's US operations and to oversee the development of Brex America, the fast growing domestic supply arm of the Brazilian group. Brasif has a 33% shareholding in the company.

Vivacqua told TRW: "The US is a very interesting market for us. There are over 1m Brazilians and Brazilian products are very popular, with Brazilians and with other ethnic groups too. We are focusing heavily on Miami, Boston and Los Angeles, which have big numbers of ex-pat Brazilians. We have a large logistics and distribution operation in place to serve a wide range of stores and big supermarket chains. We also carry a much wider selection of Brazilian products than Brex typically provides in duty-free."

Vivacqua will also manage Brasif's duty-paid operations at Miami International airport. The company opened two stores there in January, and is seeking to build its airport business further in the US, said Vivacqua.

Vivacqua's new role officially begins at the end of March. His role as operations director is being split. Brasif Services vice-president Eduardo Pereira takes on buying for most product sectors for Brasif, and will oversee the development of Brasif's specialist airport retail business with Gap and Banana Republic. Brasif is appointing a new executive to handle the remainder of Vivacqua's role. Vivacqua will continue to oversee buying for electronics from his Miami base. He said: "Because we're based in the US, we're closer to all the new developments and have easier access to suppliers."