How do I find out if the ingredients in our bars meet the food safety regulations in China?

Question

We are a very young company who were lucky enough to exhibit at IFE and meet with international buyers.
We have quite a lot of interest from China and the Middle East but need a crash course on export. Where would I find consistent information regarding exporting prices, ingredient list for import tax and if ingredients in the bar meet import food safety regulations in China?

Answer

Hi Chanel
Great website as those super food bars look scrumptious.
With regards export pricing you need to understand the local market prices as well as doing a calculation of what the landed cost will be. This will help you to know what export price to pitch in at. Since you may end up using a distributor to get your products to the local market then you need to factor in the extra margin for them.
Normally I would get an idea from the interested local partner as to what the average costs of importation are. After all they will be doing it for other similar product ranges.
One of the issues is normally that a UK company pitches a price point for the UK market and is able to make a margin from this. Say £4.99 less vat £4.16 with retailer margin means selling to retailer at £2.07 . Now imagine selling at £2.07 to a distributor in china with freight & duty, their margin and the retailer margin the price will be nearly double the UK rrp. So have you got enough margin in your product to reduce the export price to become competitive overseas? Is their enough margin to cover trademark registration costs? Do the economies of scale help you to increase batch runs and therefore reduce product costs ? Does their size of product need to be as big ?
http://exportadvisory.com/export-pricing-tactics/
Many options to consider , and if you want to have an informal chat feel free to contact me.
Gilio

Answer

Dear Chanel
That’s good news that you might be starting to export in the near future.
If we can be any help on freighting side of things whether air or sea , we would
be pleased to try to meet your requirements. Please contact us directly on email
[email protected] or by phone on 01263 513127.
Best regards
Colin ; Crown Freight Consultants Ltd

Answer

Thank you Gilio, you have given me a lot to think about and look into.
Thank you Colin.

Export Action Plan