According to words spoken by its founder, businessman Manuel Dias, “Saven emerged in 1988 with the intention of exporting Portuguese food products to the Portuguese communities rooted overseas. It was a trade in which Portuguese importers were able to obtain a wide variety of products to which they were accustomed.
According to words spoken by its founder, businessman and entrepreneur Manuel Dias, “Saven started in 1988 with the objective of exporting Portuguese food products to Portuguese communities around the world. It was a trade which Portuguese importers used to acquire the enormous variety of products the immigrants were used to.” With a new market of foreign clients our objective changed to exclusive partnerships with Portuguese producers. Drinks, namely wine, became part our portfolio. Initially Lua Cheia-Saven, LDA, formerly called Lua Cheia Em Vinhas Velhas, LDA, was created with which SAVEN, S.A. was associated. Nevertheless we remained loyal to the exclusive marketing of Portuguese products. SAVEN has partnerships established with national producers that have great visibility in the international marketplace. By centrally locating our products we make it more advantageous for our customers. This centralization allows us to supply large international distributors. We can supply large chains with a wide product lines. This is in conjunction with the quality to price formula which is the key to our competitive success. The market area that SAVEN promotes is the food and beverage sector. Our food products are: olive oil, fish and vegetable preserves, dried fruit, olives, pastas, flour and cereals, cookies, coffee and rice; a wide variety of products. Our beverages include wine produced by national producers and partners of our group Wines and Winemakers by Saven: Casa Ermelinda Freitas, Herdade de Pegos Claros, Adega Cooperativa de Pegões, Companhia da Lezírias, Casa Agrícola Aguia Moura, Vieira de Sousa, UDACA, Adega de Ponte de Barca and Adega de Cantanhede. We also carry plain water, sparkling water and juices. “The leading wine brands by Saven are Azul Portugal, Lua Cheia-Saven, Dona Helena, Monte da Baía, Samora, Herdade de Catapereiro, Pegos Claros, Tyto Alba, and many others. Despite the fact the business was initially started to target the Portuguese community in Europe, the objective was modified to obtain significant visibility internationally where we are gradually growing so there will be few places where we aren’t represented”.
Manuel Dias, Founder of Saven, S.A
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The entrepreneur Manuel Dias was born on December 11, 1951 and, soon he reconciled his studies with work at his father´s company, an industry in the food sector. At the age of 17 entered the air force, served in the Portuguese former colonies, and, when he returned joined his father once again in the activity he was developing. At the same time, he established the company “SUPER PEÇAS”, by creating a distribution chain of mechanical parts, company which he discarded a few years later, to start a new and innovative project in the tools area - “SDS, LDA”. In 1988, during the management of the family business “SOCIEDADE DE PADARIAS BEIRA MAR”, he discovered the so-called “mercado da saudade”(a market specialized in trading typical Portuguese products for its communities living abroad) and formed “SAVEN - SOCIEDADE ABSTECEDORA DE NAVIOS AVEIRENSE, LDA”, an instrument for the global supply of Portuguese products. This experience lead him to discover the world of wines and to realize that there was an opportunity in the global market for Portuguese wines, having, in 2009, with the Winemaker Francisco Baptista, created “LUA CHEIA EM VINHAS VELHAS, LDA ”, whose motto was, and still is, to produce wines of excellent quality at a fair price for the consumer, with which he conquered foreign markets and, subsequently, also the Portuguese market. The businessman Manuel Dias was a “visionary” who imprinted in all the projects he developed, something innovative, which allowed him to always be at the forefront of the developed activities, which were many. After his passing away on 10/12/2019, he left a legacy in the world of wine and vine that has been preserved and developed by his successors.
Received her law degree from Universidad Moderna do Porto in 1999. Since 2000, she has practiced law in Aveiro. In 2005 she joined the Board of Directors of Saven, S.A. which she now chairs.
