Food Export USA Northeast

Benefits of Exporting - For You!

Increase Sales and Profits: If your firm is succeeding domestically, expanding overseas will likely improve overall profitability as well. Average orders from international customers are often larger than they are domestically, since importers overseas stock by the container rather than by the pallet. Furthermore, increased sales tend to increase productivity by lowering per unit fixed costs.
Short-Term Security: By expanding into international markets and spreading your risk over a wider customer base, companies become less dependent upon the ups and downs of the domestic economy and the likes/dislikes of the American consumer.
Long-Term Security: The U.S. is a large market with a wealth of opportunity, but it is also a mature market with intense competition from domestic and increasingly foreign competitors. (The U.S. National Foreign Trade Council now estimates that abut 80% of all U.S. industry now faces international competition - many of it right here in our own backyard!) We are approaching the day when we will be doing business in a single "global market" instead of foreign and domestic markets. For most food and agricultural companies, therefore, exporting isn't just a way to maximize profits today. It also represents the future of their businesses tomorrow.

Enhance Competitiveness: Repeated studies have shown that exporting improves companies' competitive advantage. Establishing your company overseas will provide a new global perspective and can facilitate improvements with existing and new products. (Oftentimes companies discover an innovative product developed for an overseas market that turns out to be a success domestically, too.) In addition, exporting can help you compete more effectively against foreign competitors here in the U.S.
Economies of Scale: Exporting is an excellent way to enjoy pure economies of scale with products that are more "global" in scope and have a wider range of acceptance around the world. This is in contrast to products that must be adapted for each market, which is expensive and time consuming and requires more of an investment. The newer the product, the wider range of acceptance in the world, especially to younger "customers," often referred to as the "global consumer".

Benefits of Exporting - for the U.S. Economy

Jobs/Economic Activity: Food and agricultural exports are extremely important to the U.S. economy. In 2004, U.S. agricultural exports showed considerable gains in the total value of exports which reached it highest since 1986 to $61.3 billion. The constant growth of U.S. agricultural exports generated employment and income in rural and urban areas. Agricultural exports generated 912,000 full-time jobs and according to the USDA Economic Research Service, every dollar of exports created another $1.54 in business activity in calendar year 2003.
Strengthens Farm Income: The U.S. agricultural economy is becoming increasingly dependent on exports - about a quarter of our agricultural products are now shipped overseas. In particular, exports of value-added food and agricultural products represent the fastest-growing segment of our country's agricultural export profile and is the key to boosting farm income in the years ahead. In fiscal year 2001, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service, exports of these high-value products accounted for a 67% share of total U.S. agricultural exports.