Brazil’s Camil Struggles at Home as Sales and Prices Fall in 2025 Across Core Food Products

Brazilian food giant Camil Alimentos posted a 16% drop in profit in the first quarter of 2025, hit by falling sales and weaker prices.

The company, one of the biggest sellers of packaged rice, beans, pasta, and biscuits in Latin America, earned R$66 million in net profit between March and May, down from R$78 million a year earlier. Revenue also slipped 7% to R$2.7 billion.

These results came from the company’s official quarterly report. The core reason for the decline was a sharp drop in domestic market performance, where Camil sells most of its basic food products.

Sales of affordable staples like rice and beans, grouped in the “Alto Giro” category, fell over 13% in volume to 507,000 tons. Processed foods like pasta and biscuits—called “Alto Valor”—declined 3.7%. Combined, total domestic volume fell by 12.4%.

At the same time, average prices dropped significantly. In Brazil, Alto Giro products dropped 11.6% to R$3.96 per kilo, while Alto Valor products slumped 24% to R$13.96.

International sales did grow by nearly 20% in volume, but export prices fell 31% to an average of R$4.49 per kilo. Overall, the company sold just under 3% less in total volume, but made far less money.

Camil’s EBITDA—a measure of operational profit—fell 8.4% to R$233 million. The EBITDA margin held steady at 8.7%, but stable efficiency couldn’t offset lower revenue.

The big picture is clear: Camil faces a domestic market where consumers buy less and hunt for cheaper options. This erodes volume and pricing power.

At the same time, global commodity trends and rising competition leave little room to raise export prices. The company finds itself squeezed on both fronts.

Still, Camil points to underused capacity in higher-value categories like pasta, biscuits, and coffee. These products use only half of their installed production capacity, opening a chance to grow volume and spread costs over more units.

Management sees this efficiency as a path to regaining profit. For now, though, Camil’s numbers reflect the challenges facing branded food makers in middle-income countries.

When shoppers tighten budgets, even popular products feel the squeeze. All data and figures used here are based directly on Camil’s published financial results.

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