In this article, Food & Drink specialists from Visionary Food Solutions, talk about the opportunities for UK food & drink manufacturers toward the United States as an export destination for their brands.

In recent years, the team at Visionary have successfully supported several brands in launching into the US market.  There may be no better time than right now for UK brands to export stateside.

‘Ready-made synergy for UK products on US shelves’

A big advantage, especially for UK brands, is the lack of language barrier, and the fact there is a large commonality in terms of ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ between the two populations, this means there is a ready-made synergy for UK products on US shelves. Tracy, Sales and Marketing Director for Visionary Food Solutions states “The volume opportunity in the US is significantly greater than most other countries, and there are many similarities too. It is still the number 1 destination globally and has a market value of $2.2 billion in 2018.” 

The consumer trends for food and drink in the USA has similarities such as veganism, sustainability and locally sourced products. One key thing to note for food and drink brands is the trend for trust In a brand across all markets, alongside value for money and ease of purchasing which were revealed as motivations for consumers (FDF,2020)

For example, in the USA there is a demand for vegan diets at 3% of the population in 2019 compared to UK where 2.59% of consumers follow a vegan diet (Statista, 2019). This suggests that consumers are looking for similar alternatives to animal products. 

For UK branded goods, there has been a growth of 10.5% export value in 2020 to the USA, and a growth of 13.7% to China (FDF,2020).

The top ten exporting products can be seen below in a infographic from FDF found here.

‘Welcome news for exporters from the UK’

The enforced lockdown environment brought about by the pandemic has seen an enormous movement toward home buying, with that comes competition amongst the stores, which leads to a desire to have the strongest product range. Buyers are as receptive as they have ever been to new ideas, and so this presents a great opportunity for brands. The U.S. has over 40,500 supermarket and grocery store retailers in addition to discount and convenience stores, all of which assure convenient accessibility and competitive pricing.

The industry has also shown significant resilience to the recession and other external factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Food retail in the U.S. is among the few sectors which performed well during this period. According to a Nielsen survey conducted at the beginning of May 2020, year-on-year growth was at 28% (Statista, 2020). Further to this, there is also the change in political landscape, post-Brexit and with the US entering a new administration under Biden. 

If you would like to have a chat about the opportunities for your brand in the US market and how we can help you export please get in touch by emailing tracy@visionarygroupltd.com 

References:

https://www.fdf.org.uk/globalassets/resources/publications/reports/exports-reports/exports-snapshot-h1-2020.pdf

https://www.statista.com/topics/1660/food-retail/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1085204/dietary-habits-in-the-us/