With assistance from Food Export-Midwest’s Branded Program funding, Lafeber was able to maintain their presence in the EU, where building a relationship with distributors is vital to doing business.

As Lafeber states, “Trust in a company is a huge factor in the EU and it sometimes takes years to build this trust. By continuing to attend these shows the Veterinarians will gain trust and start using our products more”. Every year since 2013, the company has utilized Market Access Program (MAP) Branded Program funds to attend the EVECC Congress, held in a different European market each year. Through their continued attendance at the show, they have been able to establish a presence in new markets such as Ireland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, and Denmark.

After attending the 2018 show in Venice, Italy, Lafeber reported sales of $7,000 to Italy, $60,000 to France, and $235,000 to Germany, more than doubling their previous year sales to Italy, and increasing sales to France by 30%. In 2019 they plan to use Branded Program funds to travel to the EVECC Congress in Estonia.

Lafeber is a producer of pet food & care products who focuses on the wellbeing of pet birds and small mammals. They have been a participant in the Food Export Branded program since 2010 and are part of Food Export’s Online Product Catalogue.

Food Export uses funding from the Market Access Program (MAP) to help America’s small businesses increase their exports of food and agricultural products. As these exports increase, these small businesses are creating jobs and improving the strength and stability of our agricultural economy. Food Export-Midwest and Food Export-Northeast are non-profit organizations that work in collaboration with their member state departments of agriculture and the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. They offer a wide range of programs and services that help boost America’s agricultural exports.