Exhibit 12.01


                                  CERTIFICATION

         I, Walter Fontana Filho, Chief Executive Officer, certify that:

         1. I have reviewed this annual report on Form 20-F of Sadia S.A.;

         2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

         3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the company as of,
and for, the periods presented in this report;

         4. The company's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the company and have:

            (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
                disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
                supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
                company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
                to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
                period in which this report is being prepared;

            (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the company's disclosure controls
                and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions
                about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
                procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report
                based on such evaluation; and

            (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the company's internal
                control over financial reporting that occurred during the period
                covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is
                reasonably likely to materially affect the company's internal
                control over financial reporting; and

                  5. The company's other certifying officer(s) and I have
disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
financial reporting, to the company's auditors and the audit committee of the
company's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

            (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
                which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the company's
                ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
                information; and

            (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
                other employees who have a significant role in the company's
                internal control over financial reporting.

Date: June 25, 2004

                                                     /s/ Walter Fontana Filho
                                                     Walter Fontana Filho
                                                     Chief Executive Officer

A signed original of this written statement required by Section 302 has been
provided to Sadia S.A. and will be retained by Sadia S.A. and furnished to the
Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.