Strengthening Tile Connections at Brazil Ceramic Tiles Experience (BCTE) 2022, Sun City, South Africa

In July 2022, Terry Interior Designs was invited to attend the Brazil Ceramic Tiles Experience (BCTE) — the leading forum for Brazilian ceramic tile manufacturers and international distributors — held at Sun City, South Africa. The event brought together producers from across Brazil's ceramics industry, with structured business meetings designed to connect manufacturers with buyers and design professionals from around the world.

Why Tiles Matter in Every Brief

Tiles are one of the most consequential material decisions in any interior project. They define surface character across kitchens, bathrooms, living areas, and outdoor spaces — and the difference between a tile sourced without consideration and one selected with care is immediately apparent in the finished space. Getting access to the right range of suppliers, at specification, is something we invest in deliberately.

The BCTE gave us direct access to 15 of Brazil's foremost ceramic tile manufacturers in a single setting — with structured one-on-one business meetings that allowed for proper technical conversation rather than a browsing visit to a showroom floor.

Deepening Supplier Connections

Brazil is the seventh-largest ceramic tile exporter in the world, and the quality of its output across porcelain, glazed stoneware, and decorative formats is consistently high. The BCTE format — structured as a Business Round with allocated meetings — meant that the conversations held on the floor were substantive: specification questions, lead times, minimum order quantities, and the kind of technical detail that only becomes available through direct dialogue with the manufacturer.

Sun City provided a focused, high-quality setting for these conversations — bringing together African design professionals and Brazilian producers in a format that made the most of the distance both parties had travelled to be there.

The relationships initiated or deepened at the BCTE form part of our broader sourcing network — one built deliberately over years to give us access to the best materials at the right price and lead time for each commission we take on.

What It Means for Our Clients

When we specify tiles on a project, we're drawing on a supplier network that we've vetted in person. The BCTE was one part of how that network was built — and it means that when a client brief calls for a particular finish, scale, or texture in a tiled surface, we have direct relationships with producers who can deliver it.