Exports of food and drink products by UK exporters have risen above pre-pandemic levels.
Data from the Food and Drink Federation found that exports to non-EU countries rose 16.2% in the first three months of the year, almost 11% higher than in Q1 2019.
Total non-EU exports of food and drink are now worth a record £2.3bn, with sales to Australia, Canada, India, Japan and the US showing the most growth. Beef exports rose 80%, with whiskey, chocolate and gin also seeing sustained growth.
Whilst food and drink exports to the EU still remain higher at £3bn, the rise in sales further afield may be a sign that UK firms are starting to broaden their horizons in the wake of Brexit.
The FDF predicts that further growth is on the cards, with the UK-Japan trade agreement already signed and new deals with Australia and New Zealand on the cards.
Read more: 5 ways the crisis in Ukraine is impacting international trade
Association director of the FDF, Nicola Thomas, noted that: “Such strong growth highlights how with widespread economic and political instability around the world, a renewed focus on exporting is a crucial risk-mitigation strategy for UK Food and Drink companies in 2022.”
EU still a major market
Despite Brexit, the EU trading bloc remains a core and critical market for many exporting firms, and the pandemic, war in Ukraine and the UK’s departure from the European Union have caused massive upheaval for import/export businesses.
We’ve created a free checklist you can download to help navigate the choppy post-Brexit waters – ideal if your organisation has limited experience with customs declarations, licenses, VAT on imports or rules of origin.
Competition for search engine rankings has never been tougher, and even trying to get noticed in your home country can be a challenge. But what if your target audiences are in various territories?
International digital marketing is becoming an increasingly sought-after requirement for businesses new and established as globalisation and online shopping has made it easier than ever to buy or source products and services from anywhere in the world.
And if your business is trying to attract customers from more than one country, here are some key considerations to ensure your website is visible in all the territories that matter to you.
Pick the right domain
First thing first is to make sure your domain name itself is geared towards ranking in different countries.
Most websites with a local target will have a top-level domain that ends with a specific country code. For example, an Irish website will end .ie, a German site .de, and a UK site .co.uk.
These TLDs tell search engines which country your site should rank in. But as a result, it means that websites with these localised TLDs can struggle to appear in search results within other international markets.
It’s not impossible. For example, an Irish hostel with a .ie TLD will still appear to someone searching in Germany for a hostel to stay at in Galway or Dublin.
But to really penetrate into a new market, your best bet will be to acquire a .com domain.
The right language
Offering a selection of language options on your website not only builds trust and increases conversion rates, it also helps increase your website’s visibility in target countries.
For example, if your website is in English but your target audience in Itay search Google in Italian, then your website pages won’t match up to what they’re searching. And if they don’t match up, they won’t rank.
Translating your entire website is just one consideration here though – you also need to ensure that your translated pages render on a specific, indexable URL. This will mean that search engines can crawl and then index the translated versions of all your pages, and then show them in international search results.
Another option is to offer different websites to target different zones, and have these websites already translated into the native language of that country. This is something that GORR, an international translation company has done. They have four websites, one in English, Czech, Slovenian and German. All these websites rank well, and because they appear to be localised websites to users, they convert well too!
An international backlink portfolio
The final step is to consider your website’s backlinks. Backlinks online work like word-of-mouth offline. It’s Google’s way of assessing if your website is trustworthy and should rank highly in search results. Because, if 10 websites are linking to yours, but only one website is linking to your competitor, then your website must be more trustworthy and have the best content.
Linkbuilding in your home country is hard enough, but when it comes to international search engine optimisation, you also need to consider generating links from your target countries.
So, if your website is geared to an international audience, but 90% of your backlink portfolio is from just the UK, then you should rank well in the UK. But, there isn’t enough international link clout there to convince a search engine that your website is also popular in another country.
Read more: 10-point international marketing checklist
An effective way around this is to create a list of international competitors in your chosen territories and analyse their backlinks. A native Spanish competitor should have a backlink portfolio filled with all the Spain-based website links you need to start ranking well there, and you can analyse their best ones and look to replicate them!
Leave it to the experts
Here at Go Exporting, we’ve worked with numerous international businesses to get ranking internationally – and generate leads and sales too.
Through international SEO, cross-border PPC and a range of other integrated digital marketing techniques, we can get your brand known in the territories that matter most to you.
Learn more about our international digital marketing services here.
The UK is close to signing mini trade deals with six individual US states.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, UK trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan revealed the likely deals were memorandums of understanding covering areas including mutual recognition of professional qualifications and improved access to procurement contracts.
Some of the states in question include Indiana and Texas, with the former being an important potential partner for the UK as it’s one of the largest US exporters of maize, soya beans and tomatoes. Other states that the UK has been in talks with include California, Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
Trevelyan said in her interview that: “The US big-picture deal is important and we’ll get there when the White House has the view that they have got their domestic situation [under control], and they want to look out again.
She added: “In the meantime, there’s loads that businesses would like us to try and sort out in terms of market access barriers.
“State-by-state we are doing all sorts. “We’ve got some really good discussions going on. Watch this space.”
Read more: ‘Don’t take UK exporters for granted’ warning as trade deficit widens
The ‘domestic situation’ Trevelyan refers to is in the main the Northern Ireland protocol for which President Biden has been outspoken. Increased efforts have been seen over the last couple of weeks to find a resolution, and those on the US side of politics believe trade issues relating to the protocol can be fixed, with US congressman Richard Neal commenting: “I have on this delegation people who are experts at trade and they also would confirm that they think these issues on the trade front, if that’s really the dispute, could be ironed out quickly.”
With the latest set of data showing the UK’s trade deficit has widened in March, experts are warning that local exporters shouldn’t be taken for granted as international trade networks come under strain.
The number of exporting firms in the UK dropped by 3% in March, with the number of employees working in export-related jobs also falling by 5.5%.
Total export revenues also fell by almost 4%, with Wales seeing the biggest decline.
The big-picture data isn’t too much better either with the UK’s trade deficit rising by almost £15bn to £25.2bn in Q1 2022 with imports rising 10%.
However, HMRC has urged caution on analysing the data and applying it to the business world as it has recently changed its methodology for collecting trade data. It’s also worth taking into consideration that this data set is the first since UK sanctions on Russia began in late February and March.
Commenting on the latest results, director-general of the Institute of Export & International Trade, Marco Forgione, noted: “The message is simple, don’t take UK exporters for granted. They rely on their international networks for their trade – and those networks are under severe strain.”
Read more: UK SMEs seeing core EU markets vanish
He continued: “While the supply chain crisis continues, the Russian invasion of Ukraine adds uncertainty to an already complex trading picture. Relationships are fragile and UK exporters need help, support and guidance to get them through these difficult times.
“We reiterate our commitment to supporting businesses of all sizes through these turbulent times. Education is an essential tool to ensure UK exporters have the expertise to trade effectively, sustainability and competitively.”
The UK’s small and medium-sized businesses are seeing their EU markets disappear as they struggle to combat increased post-Brexit red tape and trading costs.
At the same time, EU businesses exporting into the UK market are benefiting from a lack of controls.
In an interview given to The Loadstar, one small business owner said that: “EU warehousing is the only way to get around costs and bureaucracy – it also means jobs and money go abroad – but if you’re small it’s not viable.
“Before Brexit, a third of our direct mail orders were in the EU. That went to nothing and we are slowly having to build it back up, but this means charging our direct mail orders from the EU half the price, with us covering the VAT.”
And those increased costs, or indeed reducing prices and swallowing taxes to remain competitive, have seen many businesses fail. In fact, between 2020 and 2021, 6.5% of UK businesses closed – the largest decline in 20 years. The pandemic had a hand to play in that of course, but many SMEs have directly blamed the departure from the EU as shutting off a core market.
Read more: 5 ways the crisis in Ukraine is impacting international trade
As the interviewee to Loadstar pointed out: “The increased cost of transport means that for our product, the cost has increased three to four times. Then there are the cultural differences; we are simply not going to sell many jazz records in Indonesia or Thailand, and you have to take into account the poverty gap with these new global markets – Europe is rich, while Asia, Africa, South America are poor.
“SMEs can’t wait 30 years for a vague ‘levelling-up’ promise. That’s OK for the likes of Shell, ICI, Unilever, GM, but not for us.”
The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has highlighted just how interconnected the world’s economy is. As with the pandemic, humanitarian, political and environmental shocks in one region can affect the global markets on a wide-reaching scale.
These five stats highlight the extent to which the war in Ukraine is impacting world trade.
Trade value sinks
Almost all major trade zones have seen a fall in value, predominantly due to the sharp drop in container ship traffic from Russia.
Keil Institute for the World Economy found through tracking shipping data that Russian imports are down nearly 10% whilst exports fell 5%. In the EU, exports fell 5.6% and imports by almost three and a half percent.
The US has seen falls too, whilst China has been the least affected with exports down 0.9% and imports actually increasing by the same amount.
Inflated shipping costs
UNCTAD has warned that a prolonged invasion of Ukraine could see freight rates inflate to levels that would adversely affect economies and drive up prices even higher for consumers.
They noted in a report that: “Black Sea-Med aframax and suezmax tanker earnings have jumped from about $10,000 a day on February 18 to more than $170,000 a day on February 25. The underlying freight costs have increased by about 400%.”
Trade routes have become more complicated through restricted air spaces, as well as government sanctions on Russian planes entering EU airspaces.
Food prices could rise still further
Whilst many economies struggle to slow inflation growth, numerous world organisations have warned that food prices could rise further and adversely affect poorer households. The Economics Observatory has already reported that food prices have increased since the start of the year, as high as 24% compared to 2021.
Closer to home, the rising cost of food has seen prices increase by 4.3% – the highest for over 10 years.
Slowing growth in the Asia-Pacific region
Sprightly economic growth following the mass relaxation of pandemic restrictions has now slowed, with China in particular expected to see expansion 0.4% lower than expected before the invasion. Worst-case scenarios are pitching China’s total economic growth at just 4% by the end of the year.
Key for organisations including the World Bank though is the impact on poorer and developing nations, especially within the East Asian and Pacific trading zones, where recent global economic shocks could lead to increased poverty.
UK exporters facing difficulties too
Closer to home, importers and exporters in the UK have seen a dampening effect on global trade too, with revenues activity and revenues rising by just 2-3% – half what was expected just two months ago.
Read more: The Expert Exporter: How do you find the right international distributor?
Coriolis Technologies chief executive Dr Rebecca Harding said that: “Since 2020 there has been a general drop in exporter activity and so seeing the expected post-Covid rebound fall flat offers little hope for growth as global geopolitical risk heightens.
“Our data has been indicating a decline in exports and exporters since last year, and our forecast is for further downside risk because of sanctions and uncertainty in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.”
What are the challenges for exporters to the EU post-Brexit?
In this webinar, we will look at the implications for your business, what it means for your exports, imports and future opportunities.
We will identify the challenges you need to address to successfully export to the EU post-Brexit, including the new rule changes that came into force at the beginning of 2022.
Watch free below!
Free resources noted in this video include:
Earlier this month, Go Exporting CEO Mike Wilson and founder of Customs Manager, Arne Mielken, discussed Mike’s journey to starting Go Exporting and why independence matters in customs and global trade advice.
Watch in full below!
What are the challenges for exporters to the EU post-Brexit?
In this webinar, we will look at the implications for your business, what it means for your exports, imports and future opportunities.
We will identify the challenges you need to address to successfully export to the EU post-Brexit, including the new rule changes that came into force at the beginning of 2022.
There are two dates available:
Last month we were delighted to join with the Liverpool Library to host a webinar on trading with the EU in 2022.
The webinar covers a number of key topics for businesses, including:
- What changes did Brexit introduce?
- What are the implications?
- Post-Brexit UK-EU trade guide
- What are the opportunities?
Watch the webinar in full below!
Learn more about adapting to the new trading relationship with the EU with our free Post-Brexit Planning Checklist here.
