Our Weblog: Excerpts of Exports
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Ask the Experts
Valuable Information from the Global Gazette
Q. My company manufactures food rubs and barbecue sauces. The products have done very well in California and the Southwest and we are getting orders from other parts of the U.S. We are also getting some international orders from our Website which has us thinking about exporting. Our company is relatively new, only five years old, and we don’t know if we are ready to export.
A. The good thing, and probably the bad also, is that successful exporting takes careful planning, time and patience. It will take a minimum of one year before you make any headway.
If you know your products and your domestic customer well, have processes that are relatively fail-safe and excess manufacturing capacity, you should start investigating the viability of your products abroad.
A good place to start is Canada. The market is not huge but Canadians are open to U.S. products. And Canada can be your test market in exporting. Any mistakes that you make will be more easily remedied when you target a country like Canada. Toronto is also one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world with sophisticated tastes.
Finally there are no tariffs and no non-tariff duties because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Where to go and what to do:
1. If you want step by step assistance, I suggest that you work with a consultant, such as our Experts in Exports.
If you want a peek good overview of the Canadian market, we will be offering a food audit of the Canadian market in March. It will cover labeling requirements, demographics, shelf space and competition among
other topics.
2. Contact the FDA in your region.
I have worked with the FDA and incorporated their services into total export marketing packages for my clients.
3. Other public sector service providers are the economic development departments in your city and state.
4. Food trade shows in the U.S. are very international in attendance. You can get good leads and help determine product acceptability in various parts of the world. Make sure that you follow-up right after the show. Memories are short even when your product is terrific. Also keep following up even if you don’t get a response. Other cultures don’t always work that way. We specialize in developing effective surveys that visitors to your booth will respond to.
One final word of caution. If you decide to export, don’t target more than two markets at one time. It will be all that you can handle… well.
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