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Eli’s Cheesecake recently traveled to the Czech Republic where they used Food Export Association of the Midwest USA (Food Export – Midwest) and Food Export USA – Northeast (Food Export – Northeast) Market Builder service to expand exporting in the region. Through this customizable service, the Illinois company met with an International Marketing Expert who explained the market, showed them the area, and arranged meetings with the two largest distributors in the Czech Republic. The company is anticipating potential new sales as a result. According to Boris Baijlovic, Director of International Sales and Marketing for Eli’s, “Thanks to their professional services, I have a better understanding of the market and made some great contacts. In fact, I’m considering using the Market Builder service in Germany as well. I recommend the service to other companies because it gives you qualified distributor leads—then all you have to do is sell your product.”
Eli’s also uses funding assistance from the Branded Program to help offset the high cost of travel to major international tradeshows such as SIAL and ANUGA, as well as marketing costs associated with exporting their products to many countries outside the U.S. including China, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Canada, France, Spain, and soon the Czech Republic. The Branded Program makes it possible for small Midwestern and Northeastern companies like Eli’s to compete in the global marketplace. Additionally, Eli’s takes advantage of other services such as Buyers Missions. Baijlovic explained, “Buyers Missions are a great way to meet new contacts without having to travel. We recently attended a mission with people from Southeast Asia. To travel there to meet with such a large number of contacts would have been too expensive. In just two days, we met with a number of contacts and we already have an order. Without this activity, we would not have been able to do this.”
For more than 20 years, Eli’s Cheesecake has been dedicated to providing customers with products and service that live up to the name “Chicago’s Finest.” Starting out as a dessert on the menu of a popular Chicago restaurant, Eli’s Cheesecakes and other delectable desserts are now available across the U.S. and in 16 countries around the globe.
Food Export Association of the Midwest USA and Food Export USA – Northeast are private, non-profit associations of Midwestern and Northeastern state agricultural promotion agencies that use federal, state, and industry resources to promote the export of Midwestern and Northeastern food and agricultural products.
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