Page 19 - Food&Drink Magazine August 2019

It also tends to appear where parties on both sides are of sufficient scale to support international business dealings.
5OVERSEAS
BRANCH OFFICE
If significant trade has been established and sales have plateaued, or you want to focus on a particular market, this could be the right choice. It requires the most significant investment of all the options.
Some countries are easier to establish branch offices than others and even actively encourage it as part of their economic growth plans.
The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report data benchmarks 190 economies on the best regulatory practice and its ease of doing business score calculator.
6ECOMMERCE
This is an increasingly important channel for domestic
businesses and those seeking to enter fast-growth emerging markets. Platforms have grown rapidly including in China and throughout South East Asia.
Some will contact overseas businesses directly and facilitate their own partnerships, while others may go through their own overseas subsidiaries based in Australia.
There are a series of subsets in ecommerce entry modes, including:
• Sale to an Australian-based
consolidator who buys in AUD. They pick, pack and dispatch your goods to overseas markets;
• Sale through an Australian- based agent. They facilitate your on-boarding with major global ecommerce platforms like Alibaba;
• Sale through overseas-based agents. Similar to Australian-based agent but based overseas.
• Direct sale to an overseas ecommerce platform that
takes title to your goods, or a platform that facilitates your transactions directly with businesses and consumers
SELECTING PARTNERS
Here are some questions you can ask yourself when working out who the right partners are for you. • Efficiency and Scale: What
terms are requested?
• Leverage: What is the reach
and channel coverage? • Capability: How is their
supply chain compliance? • Need: How much do they
want your business?
• Openness: Are they honest
and transparent?
• Reputation: How intimate are
they with the trade?
• Conflicts of Interest: Do they
have direct or indirect
competitors in their tent? • Knowledge: Do they have
access to local market data
and intelligence?
• Opportunities: Are there
partnership opportunities to leverage?
• References: What is their reputation with customers and suppliers/principals?
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
Part 1 in this series looked at the reasons to export in 2019; part 2 looked at how to set your key goals and identify the most appropriate markets to invest in; and part 3 discussed how to target the right consumers and markets for your business.
Next up, we’ll be looking at brand activation. If you’d like to learn more, or simply start the conversation, reach out. I’m alwayshappytoconnect. ✷
✷ ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FOOD EXPORT
Najib Lawand is the
director of Export
Connect. He has 20 years’ experience in the food
and beverage industry,
across the private and
public sector. He can be contacted at najib@exportconnect.com.au or +61 448054234.
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | August 2019 | Food&Drink business | 19