UK Trade & Investment has helped cheese processor Prima Cheese find new customers and expand its business in the United Arab Emirates.

Prima Cheese supplies the shredded cheese found on many of the pizzas made in the UK, along with other assorted baked goods. Its customers include bakeries, food wholesalers and even supermarket giant, Asda.

In 2011, the company decided to expand its business abroad. It contacted a UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Trade Adviser and in the winter of 2011, joined Passport to Export, the UKTI programme that gives exporting companies the tools they need to grow their business internationally.

Having identified the UAE as a potential market, Prima Cheese then commissioned an Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) to identify potential customers, before flying out to the UAE with the help of UKTI funding. The OMIS came back with a list of 20 local businesses, and UKTI arranged meetings for the company with 16 of them.

“We knew that pizza is hugely popular in the UAE and that there was likely to be high demand for our product,” says Nagma Ebanks Beni, Commercial Director of Prima Cheese. “UKTI’s OMIS report and funding for our trip was a game changer for us. That one trip helped us to secure two new clients, leading to thousands of pounds in new revenue a month.”