I’m in the process of updating a Global Market Analysis of export markets for US-made whiskey that we published a few years ago in the B.C. era (before Covid). As part of the overhaul, I’m revisiting the data sources used to identify high-potential markets and incorporating some new ones. One of these is the United Nations Comtrade Database.

Quoting Comtrade’s About page, “The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) contains detailed goods imports and exports statistics reported by statistical authorities of close to 200 countries or areas. It concerns annual trade data from 1962 to the most recent year. UN Comtrade is considered the most comprehensive trade database available with more than 3 billion records.”

The database features comprehensive import and export statistics by year, country/territory, and six-digit Harmonized System commodity code. The data can be filtered to display global or bilateral import or export figures for each market. Besides dollar value, the statistics also include unit quantities, making it easy to calculate average prices for each market and period. The website provides analytics and visualization tools, and CSV extracts can be downloaded after registering for a free account.

Needless to say, a degree of caution is in order when using these statistics. For one thing, data for certain periods and/or countries is often missing, especially for smaller and less-developed markets. More importantly, trade volume trends during the pandemic and immediate post-pandemic years reflect the unusually volatile conditions during this period. As you may have heard, “past performance is no guarantee of future results.”

Still, data to be taken with a grain of salt is better than none at all. Some very preliminary number crunching reveals that the greatest average annual growth in whiskey imports between 2019 and 2023 took place in China, with an average increase of over $94 million per year. Does this mean that American craft distillers should be rushing to get in on the action in China? Well, not necessarily, at least not without a lot more research and preparation….

Testing and certification company SGS is offering a white paper that’s potentially of interest to food producers seeking to export. The report describes the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and the various international food safety standards that support it. Grab a copy and start developing a standards compliance strategy for your food exports!

To celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, Swift Passage is again making a donation to The Language Conservancy to support the organization’s endangered language preservation efforts.

While in London recently I visited the Silk Roads (note the plural) exhibition at the British Museum, displaying a dazzling array of artifacts from across the vast web of ancient trade routes spanning the Eurasian continent from Japan and Korea to Ireland. The show makes clear that global trade, far from being a phenomenon of the modern age, has been enriching human material and cultural environments for many centuries. (If you go, be prepared to fight crowds despite limited ticket quotas for specific entry times.)

The phrase “going global” captures the excitement and ambition of pursuing customers and markets far from home, but for most product-based businesses it makes little sense to launch export operations by literally selling simultaneously into every one of 200-odd potential export destinations around the world. Because your time and budget are finite, you’ll want to avoid wasting resources by first entering those markets that present the highest likelihood of success for your brand. As in so many areas in business and life, focus is key.

Selecting the right markets for exporting is crucial for the success of a business, as it directly impacts the effectiveness of marketing strategies and the overall profitability of international operations. By starting out in a small handful of large and fast-growing markets, you can focus your resources on regions with the highest potential for growth, ensuring that your marketing efforts are directed where they are most likely to yield positive results. The selection process involves analyzing export statistics, market trends, and the competitive landscape, which helps companies understand where similar products are currently being shipped and how they can position themselves effectively. Additionally, understanding cultural nuances and market-specific characteristics is vital, as these factors can significantly influence product design, packaging, and advertising strategies.

One obvious place to start your selection analysis is to consider your company’s past experience. Even if you haven’t implemented an explicit export strategy, you’ve probably had at least a few leads or sales to foreign buyers or maybe been approached by foreign distributors at a trade show. Especially if you’ve noticed that a majority of these expressions of interest have come from one country, or a group of countries with something in common such as region, climate, culture, or development level, this can be a good indicator of which markets deserve a closer look. Likewise, if you’re seeing activity from competitors in some particular part of the world, that area is likely one you should be checking out too.

But before committing large amounts of your investors’ money and your own scarce time and attention to any group of markets, you’ll also want to do some in-depth research and number-crunching. You should develop an analysis model based on specific indicators of your product’s potential in a given market. Who’s buying your product, and what do these buyers have in common? When, where, and under what circumstances do sales take place? You’ve probably already put a great deal of thought into these factors in the context of your domestic marketing strategy. Now the aim is to develop a set of qualitative and (mostly) quantitative attributes that can be researched for each prospective market to determine which ones most closely match your product’s sales drivers. We’ll take a closer look at some potentially useful indicators in future posts on this blog.

Once you know what information you need about each potential market, there is a wide range of data sources available for finding it. You can begin with free online resources such as The US Census Bureau’s mindbogglingly detailed database of American trade statisics at USA Trade Online or the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade) as well as demographic and economic databases such as the World Bank Development Indicators. Later, when you’ve begun to narrow down the list of potential target markets, you’ll want to collect primary data more closely tailored to your specific requirements. In the United States, the US Department of Commerce produces Customized Market Research reports for a reasonable fee, based on data gathered locally by US embassy staff around the world. If you’re not based in the US, there’s a good chance your own government offers similar services. Many industry trade associations also conduct market surveys, and of course private firms are available to carry out market research in most countries.

In many ways, entering a new export market is like launching a whole new business. By systematically identifying your highest-potential markets and focusing your attention there, you can minimize competition, maximize opportunities, and ultimately enhance your competitiveness in the global marketplace.

For the past few weeks I’ve been in Prague, where I’m in the process of setting up Swift Passage s.r.o., our first company outside the United States. A permanent presence in the European Union will enable us to provide year-round support and service in some of the world’s most affluent markets for our American (and, in the future, worldwide) clients. Instead of relying on back-to-back meetings over the course of a few hectic, jet-lagged days, our partners will have full-time eyes, ears, and voice in European markets long before the time comes to invest in a foreign subsidiary of their own.

Why Prague? Mainly for personal reasons (although the Czech Republic could be an interesting export market for the right products — more on that in a future post). From the first time I visited in 1987 (!) I’ve had a fascination with this city. I’m irresistibly drawn to the beauty of its architecture, the depths of its history and legends, the mysteries of its hidden corners. Even now I’m still discovering enigmatic little streets and neighborhoods that feel like stepping into another century. Several key events in my life took place when I lived here in the 1990s, most importantly the birth of my daughter, and I still have many friends here. It’s also centrally located with convenient air connections to every part of the continent.

The US Department of the Interior has awarded a grant of $900,000 to aid the Cherokee Nation in preserving and teaching the Cherokee language. Funds will be used to support immersion schooling, teacher training, and curriculum and teaching material development. MultiLingual Magazine has more details.