Israel Romero / Monday, June 20, 2022 / Categories: Blog Why is it so difficult to sell our gourmet products in Europe? Selling our gourmet products in Europe The million-euro question. We’re very close, very close indeed, and yet far — very far? No, but we still have a long way to go. That said, after two years of the project, we now know what needs to be done to conquer the continent. Spanish gourmet brands at the antipodes of French and Italian ones The keys to selling more in Europe Spain currently has 283 Michelin stars spread across 11 restaurants with three stars, 33 restaurants with two stars and 184 restaurants with one star. Enough to be a gastronomic paradise and live off it? Not at all. We still rely too heavily on tourism to fill restaurants at that level. It’s paradoxical that accessibility to these kinds of restaurants isn’t as high for locals as it is for foreigners. And yet we don’t take advantage of that momentum to promote our gourmet products in the countries from which those tourists come. That’s where our dilemma began when we created our online gourmet store: should we focus it only on Spaniards or only on foreigners? Time is telling us that the Spanish market is very important because, paradoxically, many Spaniards don’t know a lot of the gourmet products that have appeared in the last 10 years (which is also a growth opportunity in that market). And the European market, little by little, is losing its fear and ordering products from our website (we already have customers from France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Latvia, Austria, Andorra and Romania.) Spanish gourmet brands at the antipodes of French and Italian ones If our products are so good, or even the best, why don’t we have as much demand from Europe as French or Italian brands do? “It’s hard to admit, but people in Belgium are not willing to pay more for Spanish products than Italians for the same product,” confessed Encarnita Jiménez, born in Wilrijk to Spanish parents. “The Italian gourmet product,” our Ambassador in Belgium continued, “has a long tradition and great variety, and thanks to its excellent presentation and ease of distribution, its positioning is much higher than the Spanish.” And prospects for our products are not encouraging: “…to convince my friends and people close to me of the virtues of Spanish gourmet products, I have to make twice the effort because they don’t identify Spanish product with top quality. As I said, there’s a lot of work to do!” Encarnita concluded. We don’t fare any better compared to French brands. We continue to suffer from the same problems: lack of awareness of our categories and, what’s even more worrying, the country brand. Because I repeat, it’s not the same to have excellent press for our gastronomy as it is to have international recognition of Spanish gourmet brands — on the latter we are very far behind our Italian and French cousins. The keys to selling more in Europe Brand content. The more, the better. That’s the prescription that’s like when the doctor tells you that to stay fit you must exercise. But you have to do it! And regularly. Content is the same: it’s an obligation if we want to be known. Short and long videos, articles, posts, interviews… people want to know about the company, how products are made, who’s behind them, etc. We know this is where our companies are weakest, and we recommend that, first of all, they make a content plan with a calendar included, because without it it will be very difficult to maintain a publishing rhythm, and what happens is that it gets abandoned and chaos follows. Have the website in several languages. Communicating in our wonderful Spanish is useful… for Spaniards. But once we cross the Pyrenees we must communicate in different languages, and English, although essential, is not the only language we should use to convey who we are and what we sell. French, German and Italian also seem mandatory if we want to accelerate our presence in their shopping baskets on a regular basis. Below-the-line actions in Europe. The internet provides data, but it’s cold and not easy to weigh. Relational marketing actions — showcookings, product presentations, etc. — will give us that “small data” that’s more qualitative: direct human opinions about the products, comparisons with competitors, the chance to actually talk with potential buyers, seduce them with our strengths and ask for their feedback. From there, our communication can be more precise. Ambassador program in Europe. To scale our presence in European communication, it’s advisable to find people who can represent us before groups that could potentially be our customers. It’s not an easy task, because gastronomy is not fashion. We need people who can feel and convey that sentiment and persuade easily. The typical influencer profile is not valid. We need people who live gastronomy as a philosophy and enjoy sharing it with their community. [caption id="attachment_20450" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Why is it so hard to sell our gourmet products in Europe?[/caption] We at Made in Spain Gourmet follow these guidelines to the letter — as a must — and it’s allowing us to gain traction in old Europe. Knowing full well that the work and the road will be long and hard, but at the same time beautiful and passionate. Brands, if you want to succeed in Europe, you must make yourselves much better known. And invest time and money to position yourselves more and better. Because investing only in packaging and leaving your international growth to the roulette wheel of distributors is a risk that’s too high to take. When Iberian products become a sign of identity. Erythritol: Is it real competition for Sucralin? Print 2 Rate this article: No rating Tags: gourmetSpain Please login or register to post comments.