If you are working in the food and beverage industry you already know how important labelling is, even when you only sell your goods to your domestic market.

When you are exporting your products, there are evidently similar but differing regulations to respect. Each market is different and if you don’t follow them you potentially could face a fine or blacklisting, see your products stuck in customs and even destroyed in some cases as we have encountered through our experiences.

One example to illustrate this is a producer of conserves who recently forgot to add the production date to the label when exporting their products to Egypt. This is a legal requirement for this country (like many of the Middle East markets) The goods arrived but without the production date visible they were rejected at port and had to come back to their home country for correct labelling before they could be sent back out. An expensive lesson learnt by the producer!

Translating the label

When it comes to the actual translation of the necessary parts of the label for your export market then we advise you to use a professional translator for this. This should be someone who ideally is ISO 9001 certified, understand both source and target languages perfectly and have expert knowledge of the food, drink and supplements sector and regulations. You can of course ask your local customer for advice and support with this but our recommendation is that you do seek a professional translator, for proofreading any translation for both accuracy and compliance if nothing else.

You want to make sure the translation complies with every regulation in place in the country you are selling to as some mistakes can easily be made. There can be a few possible translations for a word or sentence but the meaning will be completely different and can be misinterpreted or even not accepted by the regulatory authorities.

Country rules or cultures for labelling

There are also differences to be aware of in the requirements of exporting food and drink to countries which have a differing culture or religion to your own and staying flexible to adhering to these from a labelling point of view is also very important.

Let’s take the example of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We all know that the use of pork and its derivatives is prohibited in Muslim countries unless they are sold under non-muslim sections of retailers. When it comes to other proteins or animal ingredients used in processed food and drink (think bovine collagen in protein drinks for example) then you can market and sell these products in the UAE and other Muslim countries, provided of course you have a valid halal certificate. To be halal approved you must be certified by an authorised body that is recognised by the regulatory entity in your export market. This is ESMA in the case of the UAE. It is not usually enough to have your ingredients halal certified either, your entire supply chain must be halal checked and approved.

We experienced one UAE distributor purchase in good faith half a container of what they believed to be bona fide halal products from a UK producer. After all the products had the halal logo on the packaging so they must have all the necessary paperwork to prove their halal status for customs clearance, right? Unfortunately not and when the goods arrived at port they were confiscated and without the documentation to prove their halal status they were ultimately destroyed, costing the customer not only the price of the goods themselves but also a high cost for firstly demurrage (storing the products at port) and then actually destroying them.

We can support with advice on halal certification and provide you with qualified professionals who can help your products to become halal certified if required. Contact us for further details.

The rules change all the time…

Our final piece of advice to you is to keep up to date at all times. Regulations change all the time and so whilst one export order may be correctly labelling that is not to say the next one will be in the future. You and your export customers need to be aware of this if you want to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

Seek ongoing help and communication from your partners out in the markets. They should be able to help you become aware of any change in the regulations that might impact your products and business moving forward. Also, speak with export support organisations like Bolst Global who can both guide and provide labelling and compliance support.

If you are prepared, flexible and are surrounded by knowledgeable people, you will be on top of your exporting game at all times!
For any further advice on getting your export labelling right then please contact us using the form below.

Product images are essential and have an important role when putting forward your brand, especially when English is not widely spoken in your target market. Let the images speak for themselves and make them stand out from the presentation.

Company images are also advised, to give the potential buyer a sense of the company ethos, size and history. For many this will be the first time they have come across your organisation and giving a sense of heritage or reason for existing in your domestic marketplace is usually very helpful.

Don’t dismiss the importance of having British origin products (if that’s indeed part of your offer!) and not highlighting this to your audience.  Potential customers are often interested in knowing more around the quality of your product or brand. So make sure you show this, both from images and text.

The photographs and images used should strike a chord with potential buyers as well as being in line with your brand values.

Emphasise what is unique to your product and use these benefits to differentiate your brand from any possible competition!

Remember also that your local competition is often not same in international markets! If possible do some prior research into the competitive landscape of your target market when compiling your marketing materials. Include useful market and competition data into your presentation. This shows you have a clear understanding of the market in which you are operating, where you see your product fitting and how it differentiates.

If you set up and include this market and competitive data within one or two slides of your presentation then you can easily adapt it later on for various target markets.

The aim of your export presentation is to peak the interest of your audience, to show there is a business opportunity for your products in an export market and to encourage questions and requests for more information about your product range.

Use simple yet impactful words that can evoke emotions. Customers will remember these benefits longer. However, choose carefully the language you use, both in the presentation document and when communicating. Long lists and complicated phrases can cause confusion and reduce confidence for non-native English speakers.

Leave the finer detail on the products for a further discussion and in other export documents. This could include information on product packaging, case dimensions, minimum order quantities, etc.

For more assistance and information related to exporting please fill in the contact form below.

Selecting the right distributor also comes down to ultimately knowing your own best fit partner profile. Are you looking for a larger sized company who can manage your brand, along with several others? Or a smaller sized partner who can give your products more focus? Both have distinct advantages and disadvantages.

5, What are your quantity and margin requirements?

Don’t be afraid to start talking about the commercial aspects of the business opportunity once both parties are ready to do so. No matter how great a potential partner may seem, if they are only willing to buy very small quantities and you operate on high volume production (or vice versa!) then the size of the actual business opportunity may actually not stack up.

Equally if the pricing you can offer and the margin that they and their customers require won’t work though the value chain then being able to reach this impasse fairly quickly is worthwhile. By understanding that either through this route to market, particular partner and/or market is not an attractive business opportunity and move forward into a new market or partner search promptly can save you valuable time and efforts.

If you would like help validating or effectively negotiating with overseas distributors or prospects that you are speaking with please contact our team by using the contact form below.