October 19-23, 2008, during the SIAL Paris tradeshow, Food Show PLUS!™ tradeshow enhancement services were provided to help U.S. suppliers expand their export sales to the region. U.S. companies that participated in the event walked away with $2.8 million in actual export sales and more than $10 million in projected export sales! Companies reported 767 new buyer contacts and 13 new distributorships established. According to Ed Lopatin from Before and After Candy, “The support we received through Food Show PLUS!™ was invaluable. Thanks to  the on-site assistance provided during the show, we made several key new buyer contacts to distribute our product in France, Thailand, Singapore, UK, and Belgium. We are currently in the process of finalizing a sale with a new distributor in France worth $150,000-$175,000. Prior to this, we were selling our products through just one store in the country. As a result of the new contact we made, our product will be distributed in numerous stores throughout France!” 

Food Show PLUS!™ Services provided at SIAL Paris included: assistance with registration and show organizers, pre-show competitor analysis for two products, dissemination of targeted invitations, French translation of marketing materials, technical interpreters, on-site assistance by a local contractor, in-market briefing, local industry tours, qualifying leads from the show, distribution of three generic follow-up letters in the local language, and more!

Before and After Candy, Ltd. LLC, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with a satellite location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are the producers of Before and After Mints. Their mints feature a unique combination of flavors packaged in a stylishly designed tin.

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.