USA: A Utopia?
Europe is a market with a lot of French and Italian competition; Spain is a highly fragmented market with limited growth. Spain is in fashion in the United States, and the demand potential is very attractive. But is it difficult to enter that market? Let's look at some of the keys to trying to conquer it.
- Lots of potential, but with its own rules
- Entry barriers: bureaucracy and lack of clear strategies
- Marketing channels: which ones to choose
- Our recommendations
Lots of potential, but with its own rules
It is a country with almost 350 million consumers, which presents a great opportunity for international producers. In recent decades, the US experienced a considerable increase in the consumption of food from abroad.
But why? The most influential group in food consumption in the US are the baby boomers, those over 50, who control 70% of disposable income—that is, those who can afford to spend whatever they want. They are also the most conscious of taking care of their health through food.
This is one of the ways that our companies should promote the health value provided by their products, such as Extra Virgin Olive Oil, nuts, honey or sweeteners of natural origin (there is a tendency to eradicate products such as sugar, artificial colors, gluten, etc.) and be careful to read the labels to avoid these ingredients.
The "millennials" are also very interesting as a target audience, because they have traveled, they have learned about other cuisines, they have a lot of information through the Internet and they are more willing to try new products and more exotic cuisines. When buying food, they look at elements such as: organic certifications, recyclable packaging, products that support sustainability and a fair price. So we have to provide them with products, among others, with ecological certificates, transmitting that commitment to sustainability. And with the number of international communities living there, without forgetting the increasingly populated Spanish communities, to the point that Miami is a city where more than 100.000 compatriots live together, no less, and with not inconsiderable purchasing power. That is a business opportunity that we cannot give up.
Thus, we can say that it's a very attractive market for Spanish gourmet brands to enter and generate significant penetration. A priori.
Entry barriers: bureaucracy and lack of clear strategies
But the facility that we find in the European Union market is not precisely the same in the American country. Its laws to introduce international food products are strict, especially with categories such as pork, but they are not insurmountable either. I would even say that we have more problems from our customs than entering the United States. Yes, our customs have become terrible obstacles with an excess of bureaucracy for Spanish brands, and that, instead of helping them facilitate their internationalization, slows it down and discourages it.
However, some brands that have known how to develop strategies that avoided bureaucratic problems and that were above all brave and stubborn, America is a reality, although still with a limited presence. As I said at the beginning, the market is huge, and its 50 states act like 50 different markets, with different laws and demographic profiles, in some cases conflicting with each other, so making homogeneous communication and marketing strategies is unfeasible and totally inadvisable.
It is clear that the markets that must be "attacked" are New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC, on the east coast, California, Arizona, Oregon and the state of Washington on the west coast, Illinois in the Midwest, and Texas and Florida in the South. That's a lot of land, so we have to focus on key markets to avoid collapse.
Marketing channels: which ones to choose
From the beginning of the XNUMXst century to the pandemic, we could say that importers were needed to act as distributors as well, or that the former took advantage of their distributor channels to reach the target market and, eventually, the final consumer. The digitization of food purchases, the improvement of transportation and the drop in its prices, led to the opening of other equally very interesting channels.
En Made in Spain Gourmet We have our own formula for success, which has been elaborated and developed by Christian Müller, the Global Director of Food & Beverage de Made in Spain Gourmet, based in Miami (of course, this is essential for establishing yourself in the United States), with his vast knowledge of traditional channels and the barriers that importers of Spanish products have faced (he knows them all), and as a true gourmand, he has noticed the shortcomings that the American country suffered and continues to suffer with regard to our Spanish gourmet range; and on the other hand, by myself, contributing all the digital experience of gourmet sales in Europe, the communication strategy, the new digital sales channels, and the development of the concept's value. Spanish Gourmet Product (and of each brand that we manage, today there are more than 70).
We are in the first year of adapting to the market, but we can say that we are on the right track.
And we can guarantee that, if the brands do not draw up a communication plan controlled by themselves, not by the distributors, in addition to the appropriate marketing plan, the final result may not be what the brands would like.
The United States is a country of opportunities, but many of them are real silver bullets, that is, you only have one chance to succeed. So he looks for the best shooter to be successful. We are expert snipers, looking for the best moment, and doing the maximum with the least possible risk. Spain can and must conquer America at the Gourmet level, but it must associate more and better to achieve it. Like France and Italy.
USA: difficult? Without contacts and without a roadmap, a utopia
