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US online market a great opportunity for small Greek specialty food exporters

Featured US online market a great opportunity for small Greek specialty food exporters

Small Greek exporters, particularly of specialty foods, could benefit greatly from focusing on e-sales to the United States, given American market trends and consumer profiles, as well as the comparatively lower cost of promoting their products, a report by Greece's Economic and Trade Affairs Bureau in New York City concluded recently.

Although the American online market in food and drinks is still nascent, products classified as 'specialty foods' have seen a 24 pct increase in online sales in 2018, expected to double by 2022. Greece's products that it traditionally excels in - pasta, honey, snacks, water, non-alcoholic beverages and canned fruit and vegetables - are classified under the 'specialty food' category and share in that market's advanteages, the report notes.

The report highlights the American market's uniqueness as the only global market that combines consumers with high available income, a rising trend in consumerism and a massive market size. Adding its leading technological role, its advanced tranportation system, and the potential of a tech-savvy millennials generation (roughly ages 25-40), the United States market offers great opportunities for the smaller Greek exporters, who could adapt their marketing strategy to online services and circumvent the costly traditional path of placing products on a shelf in a supermarket.

The Bureau warned however that Greek businesses need to know they are dealing with very demanding consumers, who are willing to try something new regardless of price as long as it is of high-quality. They also want it to be returnable or, in case of perishables, exchanged for something else at no cost to them.

The full report is available at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Greek), at the following link: https://agora.mfa.gr/infofiles/Έρευνα%20Γραφείου%20ΟΕΥ%20ΝΥόρκης%20για%20το%20e-commerce%20στις%20ΗΠΑ%20us.pdf