INTERNACIONALIZATION IN THE FOOD SECTOR

The national food sector, after a deep crisis that has reached even modify the traditional consumer behavior readjusting supply throughout the production chain, faces a new stage in which internationalization is a particularly important phenomenon that could be said estimating data from the Spanish trade balance is taking our businesses to position itself as the locomotive of economic recovery in our country.

Dates are clear: 77% of the Spanish food companies go abroad in search of business, boosting exports by 10% in the last three years.

An internationalization process, however, involves running a series of processes in which the comprehensive analysis of new market opportunities that are evident especially in growing economies, we should not forget the many barriers to entry that surely find us: policies and legal restrictions, domestic competition, very different production patterns, trends and consumer behaviors related to unknown socio-cultural and other factors. With this, we should not lose confidence because, as recently stated in an important sector Forum "who is able to sell today in Spain ... is able to sell anywhere in the world. "

However, to compete in a global marketplace requires companies to be sized properly, operationally more flexible to changing demand and respect in full foma scales of innovation, quality, traceability and production guarantees usual in the European regulatory framework. This constitutes, in itself, an important added value highly esteemed internationally. The Mark Spain, in a globalized food sector is valued and much as a factor of competitiveness and excellence.

With this, what are the factors that can support a successful internationalization strategy?:

Plan: The Internationalization should not be a desperate outputs a negative trade conjunctural situation, but a new stage of business development for introduction in economies of scale. Note that you will need to devote efforts and resources with no guarantee of immediate success. Therefore develop a good strategic plan that allows you to assess their advantages and disadvantages. Objectively analyze their strengths, but especially the weaknesses of your business, anticipating all possible scenarios. Learn depth of the barriers to market entry and used threats it brings to their business expansion strategy under all production levels. Do not over opportunities, in most cases, will be reduced.

Seek support: Estimating the Strategic Plan for Internationalization of Food Sector launched by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2012, public institutions actively promote the internationalization of the companies in our sector. Industry associations and local clusters, Chambers of Commerce and the Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX: www.icex.es) available to companies the resources for training, technical studies and even financial guarantees to ensure the success of search strategies business in foreign markets. Trade (2014 Food can be a good opportunity), forums, industry meetings and conferences are opportunities that should not be neglected to establish contacts with prospective partners and gather much valuable information and new perspectives that possibly had not contemplated.

Travel: Meet background and field of prior markets, legislation and trends in local consumption, not just the BRICs that surely will be taken over by the competition, study the possibilities of other secondary markets expanding. Attend Trade sector in the countries of destination and network with all partners you consider may be of interest. Assess the possibility of partnering with a local company on time to test your future introduction. Make an appointment with the sales representative of the embassy and liaise with other fellow companies already present in the destination country.

Strengthen your Brand: Develop your position so Glocal, "thinking globally and acting locally." That is, focus its company to establish a demonstrable leadership in the areas of specialization appropriate chain of its market value. There is no point pretending to be someone out if you do not have the experience, know-how and resources for domestic success. Do not neglect the I+D+i, especially Innovation (the most overlooked in our industry), and integrate it into the production processes of your company. Establish strong Corporate Branding Plan that includes all physical and digital tools (catalogs, brochures) (web, social media) working in multiple languages​​. Train your sales teams competitively but not as an integrated whole with common goals.

Use depth Internet: Today, the Red is one of the main tools for the acquisition of knowledge , both in the training plane (and importantly the proliferation of on-line courses in specialized techniques for the food sector internationalization), as in the purely functional. Discover the major platforms and online marketplaces to support the process of marketing products and food service , research case studies , analyze the reports of local markets and consumer trends ... Find all the information to enable you to have the information tools that support their strategic decisions. And do not forget the online promotion of your company through active presence in digital forums and participation in Blogs . In addition , social networks are now an essential tool for building communities of loyal users (stakeholders) to help its corporate positioning.

Trust your nose: Finally, be guided by your experience. Nobody like the entrepreneur and the management team confidence, know your industry, the actual production capacity of the company and how you can improve the business strategy. Obviously, not close to opportunities, even being able to have the advice and experience of professional and consulting specializing in this type of processes integrated into the company or outsourced mode ... But be guided by its smell: hard work, but especially the confidence to achieve the objectives, constitute the fundamental factors in addressing and successfully implement the internationalization of your company.

As we have seen, do business outside our country can constuir a good growth opportunity for companies in the food sector. It is not at all easy, but with hard work, dedication, humility and desire for improvement is perfectly plausible. In GÉMINA we are succeeding. We would like your opinion on the possibility of developing the internationalization of your company: do you believe that these tips can guide you ...? And in case you are already working on it, how is it being your experience? ...