Consulting network The Green Seed Group is to replace Food from Britain (FfB).
The new body, which opened its doors in the UK this week, will take over FfB’s overseas business, as well as help foreign businesses create links in the UK.
Headed up by chairman David Wilson, who previously ran FfB’s North American operation, The Green Seed Group has nine offices in Europe, as well as one in North America and a new office in Australia.
Green Seed will continue to promote its UK clients but work to promote business across the world from each of its host countries.
Each office offers a wide range of services for companies looking to target new territories, from market assessment and strategic planning, through to assistance with packaging, marketing and on-the-ground support to help develop buyer relationships and select distributors or other local partners.
The UK arm of the business will be run by managing director Simon Waring, who was the international management director at FfB.
Waring told freshinfo: “With Green Seed, it is all about helping businesses find the gap in the international market and then growing trade through promotion, marketing communications, branding and links - offering a fully rounded service and expertise.
“The overseas offices were separate businesses even when trading under the brand of FfB, but were not allowed to work with businesses [that were] not from the UK if they were to receive government funding. Now, we are funded by the businesses and countries can promote products around the globe using our expertise.
“Although opportunities are harder to come by in fresh produce, we have helped considerably some companies as FfB. We intend to continue this with Green Seed and have begun work, looking at some businesses with melons and peppers in Spain and mushrooms in Italy. Our international sourcing department has a great range of contacts and works on both a reactive and proactive basis.”
Through its work as FfB, which was set up in 1991 and became defunct in March, Green Seed already has links with some of the world’s leading retail and foodservice operators, such as Tesco, Whole Foods, Carrefour, Wal-Mart and McDonald’s.
Wilson said Green Seed would take significant advantage of its global links: “Instead of just working with UK exporters, we will partner with companies located anywhere in the world, looking to develop business in any one of the 19 territories covered by our network of offices.”
“The launch of Green Seed is a very exciting evolution. The internationality and flexibility of the group has opened up a wealth of opportunity that was not previously accessible under the FfB flag. Although British food and drink businesses will remain a key focus for us, we are looking forward to working with large- and medium-sized food and drink companies from around the world who simply have a common aim - to develop business outside their home markets.”
No comments yet