“Packaged food is slowly eating away at fresh food across the Middle East,” said Lee Linthicum, head of global food research at Euromonitor. “People have been eating fresh and unprocessed food in the region for years; it’s now that there’s a shift from unprocessed to processed.” For better or worse, Middle East consumers are eating less fresh vegetables and more packaged, processed food both inside their homes and outside at restaurants.

Sales of packaged and processed foods across the Middle East are forecasted to increase 11% this year to US$52 billion. Consumers in the region are becoming more affluent and time-conscious, seeking convenience foods. Due to these trends, multi-national food …Read More »

The Gulfood trade show, currently occurring in Dubai, is billed as the world’s largest annual food show (http://www.gulfood.com).  Sales of packaged processed foods in the Middle East will increase 11% this year.  “Packaged food is slowly eating away at fresh food across the Middle East,” said Lee Linthicum, head of global food research at Euromonitor.  Throughout the Middle East, despite our religious and geo-political differences, capitalism appears to be the great equalizer.

Athena Marketing International (AMI), Seattle-based consulting firm specializing in global market entry and international business development, was instrumental in establishing a multi-million dollar distribution agreement between a U.S. beverage manufacturer and Hiang Kie Coffee Group Limited, a leading coffee and specialty beverage distributor in China.

“With the Chinese penchant for quality food and beverages, rising income levels and aspirational middle-class, coupled with its large and increasingly-sophisticated population, U.S. food and beverage suppliers are well-positioned to capitalize on this growth opportunity,” said Peter Guyer, President of Athena Marketing International. “We are very pleased with Hiang Kie and selected them because of their broad coverage, customer centric business model, and their wonderful staff. We look forward …Read More »

U.S. companies seeking growth and profitability should consider developing a strategic plan to enter and/or sell more of their products in China.  No other market in the world has the size, breadth and growth rates as China.  On a recent trip to China, I was impressed not only with the massive consumption of imported food and beverage products by Chinese consumers, but also the plethora of Chinese traders and retailers which plan to increase the number and amount of imported foods.  Savvy international companies understand this, and have made plans to exploit this growth and the Chinese consumer’s “hunger” for imported food products.  “Asia clearly represents the most significant growth opportunity on a go-forward …Read More »

Peter Guyer was a keynote speaker at the Intertribal Agricultural Council’s Export Seminar in Las Vegas December 7-8, 2011.  The American Indian Foods (AIF) program is supported by the USDA and assists Native American Indians export food and agricultural products worldwide:

http://www.indianaglink.com/

From the Pudget Sound Business Journal:

It may surprise you to know what Washington state’s biggest export to China is these days. Airplanes? Apples? Software? Wine?

Guess again.

The biggest export in volume terms is the oldest and most low-tech farm product imaginable: high-quality hay for dairy cows.

The reason — rising incomes that make consumer items such as milk, cheese and ice cream affordable — explains a lot about what’s going on in Asia. It also points to the growing opportunity for U.S. companies to do business there.

Read the full article »

Listening to the media these days, we are lead to believe that Western Europe is about to sink into the Atlantic Ocean. Doom and gloom surrounding the European debt crisis, downgraded credit ratings, austerity measures, public strikes and riots, banking failures, shrinking economies, sensationalized photos and consumer malaise combine to make one feel that the final curtain is falling for the Eurozone (the 17 nations which utilize the Euro as their currency).  Time magazine recently published an article titled “The End of Europe.”  A European newspaper headline today read, “Berlin experts fear euro break-up from bail-out escalation.”  However, on a recent trip to Europe and attendance at the world’s largest trade show for the food industry, Europe is still obviously very open for business.

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