Rodrigues, Susana Cristina Serrano FernandesVogel, Juliana Lisboa2020-08-122020-08-122020-06-05http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/5072The Brazilian food industry, even if of great representativeness and economic proportion locally, has a low number of exporting firms and faces many difficulties of competitiveness in relation to international markets. Thus, the endeavor for new markets is a constant for the ones that risk compet ing in different territories. Internationalization is a challenging for those seeking to diversify. Innovation and differentiation bring to the sector different ways to introduce their products to the world. The specialty products constitute a category that refers to factors of differentiation, among them, the ethnic food. Because of the movement of Brazilians leaving their country of origin, immigrant communities are being formed in different parts of the world, giving opportunity to the "Mercado da Saudade" or market of nostalgia, as it has been happening in recent years in Portugal. This market creates entry opportunities for Brazilian specialty foods, or products with ethnic appeal. The objective of this study is to identify the opportunities and challenges of Brazilian specialty foods exports to Portugal. For this pu rpose, a survey was carried out to collect primary and secondary data, being the primar y data through the application of questionnaires to the Brazilian companies associated with the Brazilian food sector projects of APEX-Brazil, which export to Portugal. From the total of responding companies, it was possible to have access to 17 questionnaires considered valid, representing 20% of the total sample under survey. Firms adherents to the survey are of great importance and participation in the decisions of export strategy of the sector. With the data obtained, it was possible to conclude that there is a perception of exporting companies, guided by psychic distance, which orientates their strategic actions for th e Portuguese market, based on cultural proximity. There are several studies analyzing the various forms of internationalization of Brazilian companies, as well as exports of Brazilian food to different parts of the world, but not much is known about speci fic studies of specialty foods for the European market, even for the Portuguese market. Hence, this study aims to contribute to the knowledge in the area, as to suggest some practices to export managers and to highlight criteria barely observed in their daily operations, which may contribute to the consequent improvement of their results and better international performance of the firm.engInternationalizationExportSpecialty foodCulturemaster thesis202509451