Free Lunch.

Not satisfied with leading the planet in beef exports--it sold US$3.10 billion of meat in 2005--Brazilian companies looking to expand markets are taking their act on the road: with a barbecue tour. Exporters know it's plenty hard to turn down the national pastime, like picanha or rump roast, the most famous cut, alongside a plate of farofa, which is made from manioc flour, and a nice cold caipirinha cocktail (that would be cachaca, a spirit, with lemon and sugar). So, like the vineyards before them, the barbecue-tasting tour was born.

Developed by the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries (Abiec) with the support of Apex, Brazilian export-promotion agency, the barbecue tour has already gone to France, Malaysia, China and Russia, among other stops. At the tasting in Paris, the French devoured literally a ton of Brazilian meat, washed down with 3,000 cups of caipirinha. "It has been great for our product's image," says Carolina Barreto, marketing coordinator for IndependSncia, a cold-storage plant in Sao Paulo. The company, which exports 75% of 150,000 tons of beef it handles annually, has participated at every single Brazilian barbecue event abroad.

Abiec in 2005 spent $2.5 million pumping up Brazilian meat in the form of free rump roasts at fairs and workshops. They're back with a similar budget this year, but the menu bas changed. Hoof-and-mouth disease bas meant 56 of the 176 countries that normally consume Brazilian beef have decided for now to block the meat at the border. "We wanted to invest in some European Union markets, but because of the hoof-and-mouth, we ended diverting the money to other countries," says Antonio Camardelli, executive director of Abiec. The 2006 tour began in March in Egypt and should head to Lebanon, Germany, France and Italy.