A number of the region’s leading food and drinks businesses took part in our roundtable event last night (6th June) at the new tasting room at Harrogate Wines.

Supported by Deliciouslyorkshire, the event brought together fledgling and experienced food and drink exporters, providing a valuable insight into expanding overseas.

Among the contributors was Caroline Bell of Shepherds Purse who talked about the company’s experience of exporting speciality cheeses. Founded in 1998 by Caroline’s mother, the Thirsk-based business started to “look at export properly” three years ago and now sells as far afield as the US and Australia. Caroline explained the particular challenges they have overcome while exporting a chilled and live product with a short shelf life.

Caroline stressed that finding the right partners in the target market is crucial. For example, in Scandinavia Shepherds Purse has built a strong relationship with a distributor who understands their particular challenges. She also explained the importance of invested time and resources in thorough research – would-be exporters must know their product and where it will work. Using British branding is often a real benefit.

Ian Cundell of British Premium Sausages described also shared his export journey. Describing himself as “an accidental exporter”, he explained how he had rebranded the products and then looked for new quality customers overseas. Ian said that attending overseas trade shows had played an important with the company, supported by DIT, attending a major food show in Paris. Despite having a small stand, the quality of its product had led to a number of enquiries. British Premium Sausages currently exports to Denmark, Holland, Malta, Portugal, Hong Kong, Singapore and Qatar, among others.

Ian stressed that funding support is available and application processes have been streamlined so that it is now easier to access. Like Caroline, he believes businesses must take export seriously and stick with it as there can be a long lead time to achieving sales. However, both agreed that the effort is definitely worth it - once over the initial hurdles, such as regulatory requirements, exporting is relatively easy.

Other attendees included Whitakers Chocolates, Harrogate Tipple, Aagrah, Sea chips, Suma Wholefoods, Great Stuff Organic and Isaac Poad Brewing.