Gaining international presence can be difficult for many brands, but three food and drink export experts have on-the-ground experience and deliver their top tips on making a success of export.
From utilising a brand and product’s unique selling point (USP), to understanding the qualities of each market and delving deep into a product category, here are the five tips from food and drink brand exporters.
1. Focus on your USP
Utilising a brand’s USP is a founder or CEO’s secret weapon, according to Jamie Douglas-Hamilton, founder and director of ACTIPH Alkaline Water, a functional water brand.
The business was founded after Douglas-Hamilton discovered for himself the power of alkaline water when it comes to hydration and recovery following exercise, he explains at IFE in London.
It’s a type of water popular in Japan, he says, though in Europe it’s been a tough sell. However, the business quickly educated its target customer base on the product’s USP and it is growing as a result.
For Jo Colman, chief mint officer at Summerdown, a peppermint product business, which produces and sells everything from tea to soaps, his USP is in the heritage and quality of the product.
“We’re the only ones doing what we do and the best at it or we’re bonkers. We’re not a confectionery or tea or soap company, we’re a peppermint brand that’s over 20 years old,” he says.
“We have a story that starts from the farm that gives our product something to remember. We focus on what’s unique with no side tracks.”
2. Don’t be too broad
Technology may have made the world smaller than ever, but logistically it’s still vast.
“Don’t diversify and attack the world,” says Mark Burkett, export academy advisor, Department for Business & Trade. “You have to be targeted and do what you know. Do your due diligence. Do your research, there is no excuse these days.”
Douglas-Hamilton targeted the States, but it was at a huge financial and time cost. “Going through the forms for that was huge,” he says.
“We had to deliver and transport the products ourselves and the US was paying us after 90 days and sending a cheque to the UK for a fraction of what we should have been paid.”
All three experts advised looking at the Republic of Ireland as as a first step into the European Union market. “It has been the best market for us to go into,” says Douglas-Hamilton.
“If there’s a problem, you need to make sure you’re set up to travel there. US is very far away from the EU,” says Burkett.
“Loads of companies want to go to the US, it’s great to have ambition to export to the whole world,” he continues. “But the fact of the matter is, you need to know where to go and be laser-targeted.”
Markets like the US are essentially “50 different countries and each state has its own rules and ways of trading”, he adds.
3. Turn a problem into gold
For Douglas-Hamilton, the water market is linear in most European markets. Germany has the largest consumption of bottled water per capita, for example, but it’s still and sparkling and dominated by low price. In France, few if any foreign brands are available.
“We do sampling and we sponsor over 500 sports events a year and everyone gets a bottle,” he says. “That’s been the most effective form of marketing, sampling. Getting the product in people’s hands.”
For Colman, he uses “no” as his ammunition and turns a decline into opportunities. For example, if a market or company doesn’t like his product, he works to understand why and then works to break down the barriers through innovation or communication.
“It’s about finding the right stories in those markets, it can be a challenge. The customer profile can be a challenge. So using that pushback as a qualifier of where we need to put resources and develop leads and customers is a focus for me,” he says.
Burkett agrees, saying turning a no around can be a challenge, but then carries with it massive rewards if done successfully.
4. Use mistakes to your advantage
Starting up and venturing into new and unknown markets has many challenges. It will also likely yield many mistakes.
Moving beyond the mistakes can be hard, especially in parts of the world where the rules differ from home markets, the experts agree.
The most important thing to do when facing a big business mistake is to own up to it, says Burkett.
“We always say is the first rule of export is don’t panic,” he explains. “There’s got to be a solution and you just need to find it.”
He points to a situation of his own where a client in the Middle East was sent a product that had been over-labelled from English to Arabic, rather than new labels printed, which isn’t suitable for the market.
“I had to tell the truth and that was the best ever thing I did because it trebled the business because they knew they were dealing with someone honest,” Burkett adds.
Find a solution to the problem, they all agree, rather than throwing away all of the work and the cost that’s associated with it.
5. Know where you want to grow
Understanding how to grow in a chosen market can be the key to developing a brand there, says Colman, who operates in most territories already.
However, while some businesses might aim for the large chains or distributors, Colman points out that it can be beneficial to start smaller.
“In the US, we looked at what worked there and it wasn’t going to the big retailers, but state-by-state local operators,” he explains, saying every state has a local supermarket group.
“These groups have 20-40 locations with a mindset of wanting something unique and not worrying about price.”
If a brand can crack the local supermarkets state-by-state, they can have a hefty listing at the end of the work, he says.