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8 step guide to food and drink trade fairs

Trade fairs are important occasions for any business looking to sell overseas and they are particularly important in the food and drink industry. For exporters they are a great opportunity to connect and learn from other companies in the space, to build relationships with distributors, and to showcase your product to the industry’s press and your peers.

“Exhibitions are one of the most cost effective ways to build an export business. Nick Fielder Anuga

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Ahead of Anuga 2015, we asked trade fair and food and drink industry experts their tips for succeeding at trade shows. Anuga is one of the largest shows of its type in the world and a highlight in the Food & Drink calendar.

The following advice is provided by the FDEA, UKTI, and Anuga, as well as two companies who have succeeded at trade fairs before - Walkers’ Nonsuch and Nairn’s Oatcakes.

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Soak it in and learn from the huge variety and number of companies attending

Walkers: It’s huge and inspiring seeing foods from all over the word. There’s so much to see and take in and just by looking around and talking with fellow exhibitors and customers, you can learn a lot.

Seeing how others present products, looking at packaging, displays and the marketing can give you ideas about how you can improve your own presentation. There could be some ideas you can adapt to suit your own business. There may be obstacles that you have experienced that others have overcome, leaving you with new options.

Plan ahead

Anuga: Plan ahead! This applies to both exhibitors and visitors. Look for full details of exhibiting companies and locations, which are usually available on the websites for the shows. Check out who’s going and where they’re going to be.

FDEA: Have your opening questions rehearsed so you quickly know if the visitor is worth investing time in. You don’t want to miss a key contact whilst passing the time of day with a competitor looking for info!

Nairns: Take plenty of business cards and contact report sheets! Know the markets you wish to target and focus on which importers and distributors will be there for those markets.

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Walkers checklist:

Check current products you are taking and any new opportunities

that you could trial there and get customers feedback for.

Ensure all packaging meets the new Food Information Regulations.

Have specification sheets for each product line to include

packaging, product dimensions, and pallet configurations.

Get Price List ready.

Literature on your company and business cards.

Take plenty of tasting samples!

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Be clear about what you need to knowTip 3

FDEA: Buyers from across the globe will visit the UK pavilion at these events and it is not uncommon to have spoken to visitors from Europe, Asia, Australia and the US in the first few hours of the opening day!

This can be mind blowing for first time exhibitors, so they need to know their targets for the show and have a system in place for dealing with and following up all enquiries. Making sure you know the questions you want to ask of potential new customers will make a real difference. Be really clear on what you need to know about a visitor to help you choose who you want to work with and have an enquiry sheet produced with these questions listed.

Talk to everyoneTip 4

FDEA: Exhibitions are all about contacts . Talk to everyone and say hi to other UK exhibitors - they may well be able to introduce you to their international contacts; make the most of preshow publicity opportunities, and make yourself known to UKTI’s network of international trade advisers that are visiting too - they are a great source of information and have good contacts in their respective markets.

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Use the UK Pavilion and check out UKTI opportunities

FDEA: Being part of a pavilion is a great tool to help exhibitors stand out at a show - bear in mind these shows can be vast!

Build long term relationships - it’s rare to build direct sales leads at the event itself!

Walkers: You have to be prepared to go to a show at least 3 times to build up a relationship with visiting customers. We have a couple of very successful distributors whom for the first few years we solely chatted to in the aisle but eventually we started trading and the business is substantial.

Nairns: The main gains we made were through existing importers we would otherwise not have visited. We did gain some new business but like most shows, the number of leads generated does not always reflect an increase in sales. We have made some valuable contacts and these relationships were cemented over the coming months.

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UKTI: We hope to help companies get their products in front of buyers from around the world to determine interest, to gain knowledge on regulations and laws, potential issues and problems that will need to be addressed before they go into a specific market, to increase their knowledge and confidence in trading internationally and, most importantly, help them make sales.

Each year UKTI London takes a stand of 10 First Time Exporters to Anuga, for example. We do this because it is one of the biggest Food & Drink trade shows in the world and we like to use this show to help real first time exporters to get a taste of how to exhibit effectively.

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Get your promotion right

FDEA: We know that the UK pavilions are a must visit feature at shows for many buyers, but at an event like Anuga with some 6,000 exhibitors vying for attention, exhibitors need to realise that they cannot rely totally on passing trade.

Wear comfortable shoes!Tip 8

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Walkers: It’s a perfect opportunity to really show off your products on the stand and the buyers are coming to you! It may seem a big outlay to pay for a stand and the expenses whilst in Koln or anywhere else, but these shows do attract serious buyers from literally all over the world and you only need that one customer that can make it really worthwhile.

UKTI: One of the key pieces of feedback that we get from international buyers is that they love the innovation in the products, branding and design that is coming out of the UK.

FDEA: Wear comfortable shoes - the aisles are not always carpeted and these fairs can feel like a very long time if you have sore feet!

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Anuga 2015

For exhibiting companies, Anuga in Cologne offers the opportunity for face-to-face contact with trade visitors at the largest food and drink event in the world – with more than 6,800 exhibitors and around 155,000 visitors.

Anuga also provides a unique opportunity for exhibitors to see new products on display from all around the world. Anuga hosts the largest number of journalists from the food and beverage media at any international trade fair.

In summary, the opportunities for small companies exhibiting at Anuga are:

– Show new and existing products– Find new export customers– Meet current customers– Find distributors– Meet the food and drink media.– See new products from around the world.

Anuga also offers opportunities for small companies who are not exhibiting, but who are looking to develop export markets in the future, and considering exhibiting at perhaps the next Anuga fair in 2017.

A visit to Anuga will provide a unique overview of new products from all around the world, and the chance to meet with companies who are exhibiting.

Our team have been working closely with exhibitors to help them to maximise their participation through displays and thorough preparation. We know that it is a big investment for a company to take part, so we strive to make sure they maximise their investment.

Amongst the services we offer is our popular first time exhibitor webinar during which we aim to bring the show to life, focus on key actions and give ideas on optimising participation. To help with promotion we send details of the exhibiting companies to our buyer database; produce an app which lists exhibitors “UK food & drink exporters” and create a printed catalogue for distribution on site as guide of what to find and where.

We have taken time to meet with a number of companies individually to design and create bespoke stands to help them stand out at the show.

Our team will then be on site for the duration too - making sure that everything runs smoothly and facilitating introductions to the trade visitors. And making the tea!

FDEA at Anuga this year

Read our full case studies of Walkers and Nairn’s Outcakes for more tips and insights

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About Open to Export

Open to Export is the UK’s online export community where people come together to help each other become smarter and more confident doing business abroad. Backed by Government and business, we are a not for profit social enterprise dedicated to helping UK companies grow through international trade.

Companies can get free online information and advice from the community on anything to do with international growth, and connect with the full spectrum of organisations providing support for exporters. Thousands of companies are using the service to connect, learn and talk about going global through our forum, webinars, guides and useful contacts.

This guide is part of our regular Food and Drink feature in partnership with FDF and FDEA. Key events in the feature this year included our ‘Ask the Experts - Live Currency’ Q&A in partnership with HSBC, the ‘Finding a Niche in International Markets’ webinar, and the ‘Food & Drink Growth Opportunity in Australia’ webinar featuring Coles Supermarket and in partnership with the Victorian Government of Australia.

FDF: The Food and Drink Federation is the voice of the food and drink manufacturing industry – the UK’s largest manufacturing sector. We are committed to help exporters overcome the barriers they face when trading abroad and promote the benefits of export to inspire food and drink businesses to start exporting or export more. For more information about FDF and the industry we represent, visit: www.fdf.org.uk.

Food and Drink month partners

FDEA: The Food & Drink Exporters Association is the trade association dedicated to UK Food and drink exporters. Membership of the Food & Drink Exporters Association (FDEA) allows you and your company to join a network of like-minded food and drink exporters and to benefit from our extensive experience and expertise in international business development. For more information go to http://www.ukfdea.com/

UKTI: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the Government Department that works with UK based businesses to ensure their success in international markets through exports, and encourages and supports overseas companies to look at the UK as the best place to set up or expand their business.

UKTI has a global network of 2,400 staff. Its International Trade Advisers (ITAs) around the UK have years of business experience to draw on when advising companies. UKTI staff, based in British Embassies and other Diplomatic offices in more than 100 markets around the world, can offer local, in-market knowledge and expertise.For more information go to https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-trade-investment