Short Title:
How to find buyers?
Sector:
Grains and Pulses
Reading time:
5
Updated at:
Tuesday, September 8, 2015 - 00:00
Document name:
Finding Buyers - Grains and Pulses (2015)
Intro:
You can use several sources to find buyers. Networking is essential, either online, in paper or in person, as well as approaching the right organisations and associations in the sector. Have a look at following tips and choose a couple of them to find your buyers.
Body:
1. Do your market research
Plan your market entrance by doing a comprehensive analysis of your target market. Take the time to investigate where your products will have better chances, in which countries, in which segments. This way you will target the right buyers for your products.
Tips:
Do a thorough research on market statistics, comparative market sizes, background information from each country, specific to your product. Check sources like European trade statistics, ITC Trademap, FAOSTAT.
In-market visits are also valuable once you are done with your desk research, in this way you can test your assumptions, identify opportunities and find potential buyers.
Keep up to date with the latest information about grains, its production, market insights, forums and conferences worldwide on the website Health Grain Forum.
Visit regularly other interesting food news web sites like World Grain.
2. Make connection through social media channels
In order to find buyers across Europe you can use business networking platforms such as LinkedIn, Google+. Further country specific sites such as Xing in Germany, and Viadeo in France can be very helpful. Being active on your favorite social media channels like your own blog, Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook, and so on is absolutely essential these days to keep your business network updated about your activities.
3. Check the information that Sector Associations offer
Supportive organisations to the international trade of grains, oilseeds, rice, pulses and derived products are available and offer useful information for you to find importers, exporters and distributors. Go to the members link and there you will find associations for several of the EU countries, in each of the countries you will find traders as well, who are the members of the association, get in touch with them. For example, have a look at:
Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA), the only worldwide trade association representing the interests of members, who trade in grains, feeding stuffs, pulses and rice internationally, with over 1400 members in 86 countries.
Coceral, the European association representing the trade in cereals, rice, feedstuffs, oilseeds, olive oil, oils and fats and agrosupply. It has members in most of the 28 EU member countries. List of members.
Governmental organisations within the European Union support the trade between nations by helping them to find business partnerships. For example, Enterprise Europe Network offers a very interesting data base where you can look for a local contact points in all EU and some non-EU countries.
4. Register with trade directories
Trade directories usually charge for membership to get information on their databases and for you to be able to contact other traders. After your registration you can either join as a supplier or directly look for buyers.
You can use a free trial to start with and then see if it is worth to pay the annual fee. Here are some interesting trade organisations online:
Green Trade, a marketplace for good products.
Grains1.com, an international B2B portal for the grains industry.
Organic Bio, an International directory of organic food wholesale and supply commodities in the EU.
European Grain, a European trade platform for grains.
Organic & Natural Business, a Natural trade directory for the UK market only.
Kompass, a global B2B directory.
Global Buyers Online, where you can search for latest trade leads from buyers & importers from all over the world.
Europages, a directory of European companies. It is a professional portal that encourages business-to-business exchanges.
Food Companies, a directory and market place for food companies.
5. Visit and exhibit regularly at trade fairs
Whether you are a visitor or an exhibitor trade fairs are the first place to meet in person with your potential buyers. It is a great opportunity to talk to other companies and get a bigger picture of how the market is developing. Before working out in which show to exhibit, take the time to visit it and check who the attendees are and if your product(s) and company are the right fit for this particular trade fair.
Here you find a selection of the most attractive trade shows in the EU in the sector. Please note that this shows are often international and not country bounded.
France
SIAL, in Paris. Trade fair for food products.
Natexpo, in Paris. Trade fair for organic products.
Germany
Anuga, in Cologne. World’s leading international food fair for the retail trade, food service and catering market.
Biofach, in Nuremberg. Biggest trade fair for organic food products.
Certified Food, in Hamburg. B2B trade fair for certified raw materials and semi-finished products.
Spain
Biocultura, held in different cities. Spanish International trade show for organic products and responsible consumption.
Scandinavia
Natural Products Scandinavia, in Malmö, Sweden. Trade show co-located with the Nordic organic food fair specialised in organic and natural products.
United Kingdom
Natural & Organic Products Europe, in London.
International Food and Drink Event (IFE), in London. Largest food and drink exhibition taking place in the United Kingdom.
Global
10times and toFairs are two examples of websites to search for any trade show in the world, just filter your target country in Europe and your sector.
Tips:
Design an eye catching stand as marketing starts on the visual aspects of your company. You can re-use your stand design and infrastructure on several trade shows.
If you prefer not to bring your own stand because of its size, weight, and so on, there is also the option to rent a stand and do the configuration according to your needs. Check with the trade show organiser whether this option is offered.
Some trade shows schedule matchmaking meetings for buyers and suppliers to evaluate collaboration interests. These one-to-one meetings can take place in a conference room. Sometimes a fee will be charged to be able to participate. Do not forget to register in advance.
Prepare for your visit well in advance by checking in details of the exhibitors list and by making appointments beforehand, using email, mail, telephone.
As trade fairs take place in different countries in Europe throughout the year, it can be costly for small and medium size exporters to attend all of them. Select the ones that offer more benefits to your company and try to consolidate many goals during each visit, e.g, attend/exhibit more than one trade show in a trip, visit clients, and perform in-market visits.
Do a trade fair benefit check after your exhibition. This software, free of charge, is a tool to calculate cost/benefits for exhibitors. It is available in different languages.
Do not forget to do your trade show follow up!
Regular visits to trade shows abroad is the best way to meet with your future clients. Do your homework and contact buyers ahead to make appointments at the fair.
Paula Salazar
CBI Sector Expert
6. Get in touch with government departments
Contact your country´s chamber of commerce, government agencies or Business Services Organisations (BSOs), which promote exports from your home country and are in contact with overseas buyers.
Commercial attaches working in the embassy of your country in Europe are a point of contact too. They often have useful information about the market.
There are also governmental organisations in Europe which promote imports from developing countries. Check with them whether there are specific programmes for your country and sector. For instance:
Switzerland Global Enterprise S-GE (SIPPO) helps SMEs in selected partner countries and sectors to export their high-quality products to Europe.
iXPOS, the business portal of Germany Trade and Invest.
Finnpartnership. Its mission is to increase commercial cooperation and promote business partnerships between companies in developing countries and in Finland.
Trade for Development Centre (BTC) is a Belgian Development Agency programme.
7. Attract buyers to your website
Web searches are becoming very popular among buyers, be sure that your company can be found by using the most common search engines. Normally, this is the first place where buyers will see whether you have a well-established company. If you do not appear on their web searches they may assume you are a small exporter unable to fulfil their demand.
Tips:
Websites get out of date very quickly. Buyers look for an updated website that represents your business and products, which also offers information about your international activities.
Be sure that your website is organised, with an irresistible content and pictures that offers clear information. Do not forget to include good graphic design that fits your target market.
Websites should be written in good English and why not in the language of your target market(s), too.
Create your own blog to bring the customers attention to interesting topics.
Use SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to get more traffic to your website, for this you can register for Google Webmaster Tools.
8. Engage with your business contacts
It is important to be consistent with the contact that you make in order to obtain potential buyers. In the initial stages of selling it is imperative to have good commercial negotiation skills, but in the long term you will have to maintain a good relationship with your clients and potential customers. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programmes help to have an organised overview of your contacts, opportunity management, lead-generation, customer service, among other services. There are several options online irrespective of the size of your business.
Tips:
Build a data base using a CRM solution and make lists of your clients depending on their interests.
Keep your clients informed about your business developments. It does not need to be long, keep it short, precise and clear. For instance, send an e-digital newsletter to your clients. It does not need to be often, between two and four times a year will be fine.
Find special dates during the year to keep in touch with your clients, like Christmas or Eastern holidays.
9. Advertise at trade shows
Advertising pays off when you are starting your business, you can use a trade show to position your firm. Trade shows have their own marketing departments that are responsible for advertising and promoting exhibitor companies. Adverts go from flyers and banners to personalised ads which can be placed either on paper, online, or on mobile in the exhibition media.
Tips:
Select the right material and do it when you have everything ready to compete in the market.
Usually, you can find a press room in the fairgrounds, where you can present a press release of your company and products.
Contact the event organiser and request more information on ad sizes, resolution, prices and so forth.
10. Understand your buyer’s mindset
Buyers are contacted each day with offers from suppliers, therefore, highlight what makes your product and company special. Before contacting your prospects it is important to take the time to understand their way of doing business. Since you will be dealing with people from different countries in the EU it is recommendable to adapt to their cultural mindset and expectations.
Last updated:
0
Tags Sector:
grains and pulses
Tags Type_of_study:
tips for finding buyers
Tags Country:
europe