More than 120 UK exhibitors are preparing to make the trip to the Sial trade show in Paris to find out how to boost their exporting firepower. Catherine Dawes reports
Companies that export are 11.4% more resilient to an economic downturn than companies that do not, according to UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). Yet only 30% of UK food and drink companies export.
That's why it pays to attend trade shows such as Sial, which takes place next month in Paris. The international event is the perfect place for food and drink companies from around the world to find new markets for their products.
UKTI, which estimates that a company's productivity can increase by a third in its first year of exporting, is helping more than 20 UK exhibitors attend Sial and has offered grants of up to £1,800 towards the cost of exhibiting. It has also organised an area within the British pavilion for smaller companies to showcase their wares at reduced rates.
The good news is that they've got plenty of genuinely innovative NPD to showcase and they're not short on ambition, as they told The Grocer ahead of the show.
The food and drink industry is leading the way in terms of UK exports. Between 2007 and 2009, food and drink exports grew 19% to £14bn, despite the global recession. Although these export sales are being driven primarily by larger companies, more and more small companies are assessing ways to exploit the export opportunity.
One such company is Wholebake (exhibiting in hall 2 stand M065), which makes 9Bars, a range of seed bars that are free from gluten, dairy, yeast and eggs (rsp: from 75p a bar). "We were getting six or seven enquiries a week about our 9Bars from people in other countries," says managing director Mark Gould. "I think there's a real dearth of free-from stuff that also tastes good."
As well as being suitable for coeliacs, 9Bars have developed a following with endurance athletes because they are nutritionally dense. When Roz Savage rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, she took 9Bars with her and wrote about them in her book charting the journey. And Tarka L'Herpiniere and Katie-Jane Cooper took 9Bars as their main source of food when they hiked across the Patagonian ice cap. These heroic endeavours have helped to spread the word about 9Bars internationally.
"The country we get the most enquiries from is Canada, and I think a lot of people have heard about it from Roz Savage's book," says Gould.
Wholebake's export ambitions are initially fairly modest. "We want to start by focusing on Europe," he says. The company has worked with International Business Wales to identify Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands as key targets, due to their established sports nutrition and free-from markets. "Although, obviously if someone comes to us from further afield and wants to do all the work to get us into another market, we wouldn't say no!"
Shipping tea to Japan
Another company that has been encouraged down the export path by enquiries from abroad is premium tea brand My Cup of Tea (hall 2 stand K018). The company already exports to Germany and Japan, but director Ausra Burg says it has been getting so many international enquiries it decided it needed to expand its exports.
On show in the British pavilion, its range (rsp: from £3.99 for 20 bags) will include six new flavours added to its everyday tea range including rooibos apple and white jasmine and six new loose teas, which went on sale in Waitrose this week.
"Export is a great opportunity for us, but the UK is still going to be our most important market," says Burg.
In contrast, exports form a key part of the whole business strategy for It's Only Natural (hall 2 stand K018), also in the British pavilion. The company only launched at the end of last year, producing two flavours of pure fruit ice pops, and already has its sights set on Europe.
"We need to achieve quite high volume sales," says managing director Dan Brown. "I can't see any products that are directly in competition with us, so it's good to get in earlier rather than later."
The Fruit Freezies are designed to tap into parents' desires for natural products, but also to appeal to children. "Ice creams are one of the last food sectors to respond to demands for natural products," he adds. They are currently on sale in the UK largely through park and museum cafés. However, It's Only Natural will be launching a multipack aimed at supermarkets at Sial.
Dadsons (hall 5a stand P217) will also be targeting supermarkets at home and abroad with a new product launch at Sial. The company believes its instant rice is the first of its kind. Consumers add boiling water to the pouch of flavoured rice, leave it to stand for five minutes and then it is ready to eat. "It's a healthier alternative to instant flavoured noodles, which often build in fat," says business development manager Sunil Dadlani.
The 125g rice pouches will be branded Head Chef and come in six flavours; beef, chicken, seafood, smoked pork, mushroom and tomato. And Dadlani says there are other meals in development. The company has yet to establish an rsp, but the intention is to ensure the products are affordable, if not cheap.
Resolutely staying out of the UK supermarkets is The Fine Cheese Co (hall 2 stand L039). The company's traditionally made artisan cheeses are sold in independent delis and food shops across the UK, but not supermarkets which it feels are not appropriate for its premium products.
The Fine Cheese Co already exports to more than 30 countries and will be using Sial to meet up with existing customers as well as looking for new ones. Export sales manager Oliver Sutton explains that while the cheeses are not sold in UK supermarkets, they are sold in supermarkets in a handful of other countries that have less developed independent retailers.
"In the UK, it's easier to see how it can work because there is a clear stream of independent retailers," he says. "But in the United Arab Emirates, for example, we work with multiples because there are very few independents," he says.
Employing a similar strategy to The Fine Cheese Co is Cottage Delight (hall 8 stand F152). The company has been exporting its premium jams, pickles and chutneys to almost 40 countries for some time. And, like The Fine Cheese Co, its products are not stocked in supermarkets. "No one can rely on just the UK market," says marketing manager Wayne Hampton. "Exports help you ride uncertain waters. If one country is having a difficult time then you can rely on others to smooth things out."
Wider horizons
Hampton believes that the export market is a no-brainer for anyone that isn't currently supplying the UK multiples. "Your opportunities in the UK are limited if you are not in the supermarkets," he says.
However, says Roger Aviris, export manager for Border Biscuits (hall 2 L049), it is important for exporting companies to tailor their distribution strategy to the country. "Every market is different, even within western Europe," he says.
The company produces an array of luxurious biscuits, and Aviris says that international demand for UK goods means that overseas markets can sometimes be easier to crack than the UK. "In Japan, products that were once regarded as luxury items have become everyday items," he says. "And that is now happening in China."
So while the UK's deficit on trade in goods with the rest of the world may have hit a record low at £8.7bn in July, the country's food and drink companies are bucking the trend.
With the rewards often richer overseas it's no wonder that more than 120 UK companies have signed up to exhibit at this year's Sial.
Key facts
What: Sial is a global trade show for the food industry, encompassing retail, trade, manufacturing, catering, food services.
Where: Parc des Expositions de Paris Nord Villepinte, France.
When: 17-21 October. Who: Sial attracts 5,500 exhibitors from 101 countries and 148,000 visitors from 185 countries.
Visit: en.sial.fr
Focus On Sial
Companies that export are 11.4% more resilient to an economic downturn than companies that do not, according to UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). Yet only 30% of UK food and drink companies export.
That's why it pays to attend trade shows such as Sial, which takes place next month in Paris. The international event is the perfect place for food and drink companies from around the world to find new markets for their products.
UKTI, which estimates that a company's productivity can increase by a third in its first year of exporting, is helping more than 20 UK exhibitors attend Sial and has offered grants of up to £1,800 towards the cost of exhibiting. It has also organised an area within the British pavilion for smaller companies to showcase their wares at reduced rates.
The good news is that they've got plenty of genuinely innovative NPD to showcase and they're not short on ambition, as they told The Grocer ahead of the show.
The food and drink industry is leading the way in terms of UK exports. Between 2007 and 2009, food and drink exports grew 19% to £14bn, despite the global recession. Although these export sales are being driven primarily by larger companies, more and more small companies are assessing ways to exploit the export opportunity.
One such company is Wholebake (exhibiting in hall 2 stand M065), which makes 9Bars, a range of seed bars that are free from gluten, dairy, yeast and eggs (rsp: from 75p a bar). "We were getting six or seven enquiries a week about our 9Bars from people in other countries," says managing director Mark Gould. "I think there's a real dearth of free-from stuff that also tastes good."
As well as being suitable for coeliacs, 9Bars have developed a following with endurance athletes because they are nutritionally dense. When Roz Savage rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, she took 9Bars with her and wrote about them in her book charting the journey. And Tarka L'Herpiniere and Katie-Jane Cooper took 9Bars as their main source of food when they hiked across the Patagonian ice cap. These heroic endeavours have helped to spread the word about 9Bars internationally.
"The country we get the most enquiries from is Canada, and I think a lot of people have heard about it from Roz Savage's book," says Gould.
Wholebake's export ambitions are initially fairly modest. "We want to start by focusing on Europe," he says. The company has worked with International Business Wales to identify Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands as key targets, due to their established sports nutrition and free-from markets. "Although, obviously if someone comes to us from further afield and wants to do all the work to get us into another market, we wouldn't say no!"
Shipping tea to Japan
Another company that has been encouraged down the export path by enquiries from abroad is premium tea brand My Cup of Tea (hall 2 stand K018). The company already exports to Germany and Japan, but director Ausra Burg says it has been getting so many international enquiries it decided it needed to expand its exports.
On show in the British pavilion, its range (rsp: from £3.99 for 20 bags) will include six new flavours added to its everyday tea range including rooibos apple and white jasmine and six new loose teas, which went on sale in Waitrose this week.
"Export is a great opportunity for us, but the UK is still going to be our most important market," says Burg.
In contrast, exports form a key part of the whole business strategy for It's Only Natural (hall 2 stand K018), also in the British pavilion. The company only launched at the end of last year, producing two flavours of pure fruit ice pops, and already has its sights set on Europe.
"We need to achieve quite high volume sales," says managing director Dan Brown. "I can't see any products that are directly in competition with us, so it's good to get in earlier rather than later."
The Fruit Freezies are designed to tap into parents' desires for natural products, but also to appeal to children. "Ice creams are one of the last food sectors to respond to demands for natural products," he adds. They are currently on sale in the UK largely through park and museum cafés. However, It's Only Natural will be launching a multipack aimed at supermarkets at Sial.
Dadsons (hall 5a stand P217) will also be targeting supermarkets at home and abroad with a new product launch at Sial. The company believes its instant rice is the first of its kind. Consumers add boiling water to the pouch of flavoured rice, leave it to stand for five minutes and then it is ready to eat. "It's a healthier alternative to instant flavoured noodles, which often build in fat," says business development manager Sunil Dadlani.
The 125g rice pouches will be branded Head Chef and come in six flavours; beef, chicken, seafood, smoked pork, mushroom and tomato. And Dadlani says there are other meals in development. The company has yet to establish an rsp, but the intention is to ensure the products are affordable, if not cheap.
Resolutely staying out of the UK supermarkets is The Fine Cheese Co (hall 2 stand L039). The company's traditionally made artisan cheeses are sold in independent delis and food shops across the UK, but not supermarkets which it feels are not appropriate for its premium products.
The Fine Cheese Co already exports to more than 30 countries and will be using Sial to meet up with existing customers as well as looking for new ones. Export sales manager Oliver Sutton explains that while the cheeses are not sold in UK supermarkets, they are sold in supermarkets in a handful of other countries that have less developed independent retailers.
"In the UK, it's easier to see how it can work because there is a clear stream of independent retailers," he says. "But in the United Arab Emirates, for example, we work with multiples because there are very few independents," he says.
Employing a similar strategy to The Fine Cheese Co is Cottage Delight (hall 8 stand F152). The company has been exporting its premium jams, pickles and chutneys to almost 40 countries for some time. And, like The Fine Cheese Co, its products are not stocked in supermarkets. "No one can rely on just the UK market," says marketing manager Wayne Hampton. "Exports help you ride uncertain waters. If one country is having a difficult time then you can rely on others to smooth things out."
Wider horizons
Hampton believes that the export market is a no-brainer for anyone that isn't currently supplying the UK multiples. "Your opportunities in the UK are limited if you are not in the supermarkets," he says.
However, says Roger Aviris, export manager for Border Biscuits (hall 2 L049), it is important for exporting companies to tailor their distribution strategy to the country. "Every market is different, even within western Europe," he says.
The company produces an array of luxurious biscuits, and Aviris says that international demand for UK goods means that overseas markets can sometimes be easier to crack than the UK. "In Japan, products that were once regarded as luxury items have become everyday items," he says. "And that is now happening in China."
So while the UK's deficit on trade in goods with the rest of the world may have hit a record low at £8.7bn in July, the country's food and drink companies are bucking the trend.
With the rewards often richer overseas it's no wonder that more than 120 UK companies have signed up to exhibit at this year's Sial.
Key facts
What: Sial is a global trade show for the food industry, encompassing retail, trade, manufacturing, catering, food services.
Where: Parc des Expositions de Paris Nord Villepinte, France.
When: 17-21 October. Who: Sial attracts 5,500 exhibitors from 101 countries and 148,000 visitors from 185 countries.
Visit: en.sial.fr
Focus On Sial
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