January 31-February 3, 2010, Before and After Candy, Ltd. LLC, with a location in Merion, Pennsylvania, in the 6th Congressional District, participated in the Food Export-Northeast-sponsored ISM Food Show PLUS!™ tradeshow enhancement services in Cologne, Germany. During the event, they met one-on-one with numerous buyers and landed new export sales of their unique mints to Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, and Hungary. According to Brian Schroeder, CEO of Before and After Candy, “By participating in the ISM Food Show PLUS!™, we expanded our export business significantly. Since the event, we’ve sold approximately $750,000 of our mint products to Germany, $50,000 to Denmark, $50,000 to Switzerland, $20,000 to Norway, and an additional $20,000 to Hungary. This was our most successful tradeshow yet thanks to Food Show PLUS!™.”

The confectionery company also landed significant new export sales to the Middle East as a result of contacts made through the Food Export-Northeast-sponsored Focused Trade Mission to the Middle East for Retail Products held November 2009. Since the event, they’ve made new export sales to Kuwait, UAE, and Bahrain totaling more than half a million and growing.

The combined total of the new export sales to Europe and the Middle East have enabled the company to add three new employees.

Founded in 2003, Before and After Candy, Ltd. LLC produces a line of mints that feature a unique combination of flavors packaged in lip embossed tins.

Food Export–Midwest and Food Export–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. Food Export–Midwest and Food Export–Northeast administer many services through Market Access Program (MAP) funding from the USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service.