New international brand strategies, a magic ‘bullet’ for Aussie exporters

You can’t just sell products in overseas markets with the same strategies that have worked in Australia, say some of our best food and drink export names.

Changing an iconic Australian name to suit public sentiment in a key export market has proven a winning strategy for one storied agribusiness name.

Chocolate company Darrell Lea is closing on its centenary after surviving near death in 2012 when it entered voluntary administration and was then taken over by Christina and Tony Quinn – who closed its retail stores and then sold to private equity outfit Quadrant for $200m six years later.

Richard Glenn, Darrell Lee’s general manager of commercial, told The Australian’s Global Food Forum that one key tweak to its marketing strategy in the US has helped drive a big uplift in sales.

“You’d love to be able to think that you can take a product that sells well here and just sell the exact same products in a different market. But that’s not always the case,” Mr Glenn told the audience in Melbourne on Thursday.

He said that one of Darrell Lea’s most famous brands did not resonate when his team presented it to US retailers.

“We’d say, business is going well, we’ve got these other products in Australia that are very popular. In fact, they’re part of their heritage.

Mr Glenn said the response was positive until “we get this product … and put it on the table with the big word ‘bullets’ written on it.”

“And you could just see the mood in the room change. It’s stuff like that we just didn’t account for. So … they are called ‘bites’ in the US rather than bullets. There’s always something that will catch you out, no matter how prepared you think you are.”

The 2023 Global Food Forum.

Elke Pascoe, the founder of fast-growing infant nutrition business LittleOak, said she made the conscious decision to concentrate on North America and now southeast Asia.

A baby formula shortage in the US last year helped boost the business, as did some key points of differentiation from local products.

“We went to America specifically because when I visited there, I picked up every single can off the supermarket shelf and had corn glucose syrup or maltodextrin or palm oil or these horrible ingredients that even as adults we shouldn’t have, and certainly shouldn’t be given to our babies” Ms Pascoe said.

That certainly helped with awareness. A lot of the American consumers looked abroad to sort of buy better quality formulas.”

Longstanding rivalries between countries also need to be taken into account, said Bundaberg Brewed Drinks chief executive John McLean, referencing one ingredient in the company’s Lemon, Lime and Bitter drink.

“There’s a product called gentian root, and it’s a sub ingredient. You can buy gentian root from two countries: Japan or Korea.

“No, you can’t sell gentian root made in Japan in Korea. And you can’t sell gentian root made in Korea in Japan.”