Category: Past Blogs

June 27th marks the conclusion of another great show held by the Specialty Food Association (SFA). This year’s Summer Fancy Food Show was held for three days on the 25th, 26th, and 27th of June at the Javits Center in Manhattan, New York.

Since 2012, the World Trade Center of Harrisburg has been attending and exhibiting a booth alongside our partners to help expand and promote our state. With our state’s various types of delicious goods, Pennsylvania has a big presence at the Summer Fancy Food Show.

PA Partners

This year a total of 42 Pennsylvania businesses attended this year’s Fancy Food Show. With a variety of goods, Pennsylvania offered a lot from a country taste of amish honey and cheeses in Lancaster to our local snacks in Pittsburgh. The list of Pennsylvania businesses that attended the show is below (the companies highlighted in red are from your local South Central region):

First Experience at a Food Show

With the 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show being my first trade show that was food oriented, I was introduced to a lot of new ideas and advertising.  I have attended other trade shows before, but the Fancy Food Show was different from the rest. This show is different from how interactive it is compared to others. Almost every booth had samples of their products that you could try.

Many companies tried different ideas for advertisements and samples. A majority of booths would give out samples in cups or plates. Depending on what the product is, booths would also have to-go packages of their products. Some of the bigger companies would have an area to sit down at their booth and they would serve the guests with a little show on how their product is made. All of these ideas of advertisement were put to test at the show.

The Summer Fancy Food Show is the largest food show in the United States with companies coming from all over the world. The show floor was sorted out by specific parts of the world. One of the show floors had all the businesses in the United States and they were sorted out by state. On another floor they had all of the international businesses sorted out by country. This made the show easy to walk through and stay organized.

With this being a food show, there is a lot of food that is left over after the show. This extra food does not go to waste. After the show, the vendors leave their extra food and samples to be picked up by City Harvest which is a non-profit organization that rescues food to be given to those in need. This year they were able to save 94,600 pounds of food to be given to more than 31,000 families. 

If you are interested in attending or maybe even booking a booth at the next Summer Fancy Food Show, the next time it takes place is June 23-25, 2024. Visit the Specialty Food Associations website for more information.

Thirty-five years ago, The Reading Chamber of Commerce filed an application with the US Foreign-Trade Zones Board resulting in the creation of Foreign-Trade Zone 147 (FTZ 147), the 147^th such zone established in the US.  For perspective, as of the end of 2020, there were 298 FTZ’s in and around the various U.S. Customs Ports of Entry.  The original Zone covered the land at the Reading Municipal Airport.  
FTZ 147 now covers eleven counties in Southcentral Pennsylvania:

• Adams County
• Berks County
• Cumberland County
• Dauphin County
• Franklin County
• Fulton County
• Juniata County
• Lancaster County
• Lebanon County
• Perry County
• York County

FTZ 147 got off to a slow start.  For various reasons no zone activity occurred until 1996 when Baker Refractories began to use the FTZ program to eliminate Customs Duties on imported magnesite.  That use was short lived as the United States eliminated the import duties on magnesite a year or so later.  While the zone grew by expanding the service area into additional counties, the use of the zone by companies stalled until 2005 when Clarks’ Shoe Company began importing footwear using FTZ procedures.  The next 15 years saw the explosion of zone use in FTZ 147.  The amount of merchandise moving thru foreign-trade zones in FTZ 147 went from $0.00 in 2005 to $14,073,059,437.00 in 2020.

In 2020, the most recent year statistics are available, FTZ 147 received over 10 times more merchandise in zone status than any other zone in Pennsylvania.  FTZ 147 ranks 5th in the nation, and 2nd for an inland port, for receipts of merchandise into warehouses in Zone Status.  FTZ 147 ranks 20th in the nation in terms of exports from warehouse zones.  Remember, FTZ 147 was last in the nation in 2005, just 15 years ago.

Companies can use foreign-trade zones to maintain the cost competitiveness of their U.S.-based operations in relation to their foreign-based competitors.  The fundamental benefit offered by the FTZ program to U.S.-based companies include:

• Deferral of Duties
• Reduction of Duties
• Elimination of Duties

For the U.S.-based companies involved in international trade, the FTZ program provides a means of improving their competitive position in relation to their counterparts abroad.

For more information regarding U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones, please contact Randy P Campbell at FTZ@CampbellTradeGroup.com

By guest blogger Liz Parent, Director of Sales and Marketing, Testing Partners 

Many manufacturers choose not to obtain required wireless or safety certifications for their devices going into global markets for various reasons. While those reasons might seem valid, and are definitely based on value, the risks of noncompliance can far outweigh the few thousand dollars certification costs for global markets. Have you ever stated any of the following? “We don’t ship enough product into that region.” “Our sales revenue doesn’t offset the cost of certification.” “We’ve been shipping into that country for years without certification.” “They don’t check at Customs.” While we agree that sales revenue is top priority in manufacturing processes (or what’s the point, right?), thinking long-term plays a huge role in your overall success and teaches your entire team the benefits of being proactive instead of reactive. 

More countries are cracking down at Customs and could change their policies tomorrow. The international regulations for type approval and safety certifications were put into place for each country with varying caveats. Some regulations were written as a way to enforce use of the radio spectrum and set forth boundaries and allowances within the scope of the regulation. The purpose of a regulation in one country might stipulate that the regulation is in effect strictly to dictate which bands are allowed to be used by non-governmental entities, for example. A manufacturer can go a lifetime without violating the radiofrequency usage laws, and technically, be compliant with the law as it pertains to which bands can be used. However, the fact that a country has a regulation for using the bands isn’t the end of the regulation: the regulation is actually stating certification must be obtained proving they are not violating the usage of any bands. If certification is not obtained, and the manufacturer has products utilizing the radiofrequency spectrum in accordance with the regulation, and the authority decides to start checking for certification, the manufacturer will be held accountable for violation of not holding certification.

Some countries do check at Customs, and the regulations are written in a way that dictates this. However, other countries don’t detail the Customs enforcement in writing, so when manufacturers ask for proof within the regulations for each country, the detailed specific proof might not be available. It is proof enough, however, that a regulation for certification exists, based on the technology within the products. It has to be assumed, therefore, that because the regulation for certification exists, there will be risks involved if certification is not obtained, and this is a gamble manufacturers must decide if they want to take. Rolling the dice on obtaining certification could be the difference between a $1500 permanent certificate or tens of thousands of dollars in returned product, Customs shipment holds, product pulled from shelves, etc, all at the cost of the manufacturer. Spending a few thousand dollars for peace of mind knowing you are continually compliant with certification regulations over noncompliance is one less aspect of your daily life you need to worry about.

If the stress of not knowing each country’s constantly changing regulations keeps you from obtaining the necessary certifications, or you don’t know how to build a product that will be compliant with global regulations, that’s the time to pick up the phone and call Testing Partners. Let us handle compliance mapping and certification for you so you can focus on other aspects of your job, like sales or new product launches. We can help you create, engineer, build and certify every product from start to finish, for anywhere in the world you want to ship your product (within government allowances, of course).

Do you want to be the one caught without certification? The risks of noncompliance could cost way more than certification. Testing Partners can map out the risks so you can determine which countries are priorities based on cost, certification validity, and more. Give us a call today for a free consultation at (862) 243-2329 or email customerservice@testingpartners.com.  

By Guest Blogger Gary Peterson, Wavelength Marketing

Automated lead nurturing is a form of marketing that uses a variety of communication tools to attract prospects with high-value content and then capture and nurture leads over a period of time. While automated lead nurturing abroad is often comprised of many or all of the same elements you would use here in the U.S., it also requires special consideration when selecting communication tools and packaging marketing messages in order for it to be successful.  When planning an automated lead nurturing strategy for a market outside of the U.S., here are three key elements you have to get right.

1. The Tools
The key to all successful marketing is knowing your audience—who they are, what they need, how they do business, and how to reach them. Never assume your foreign audience uses all of the same communication tools you do or conducts business in the same way. You may find that the foreign market you’re entering relies less on the web and more on face to face interactions, or uses mobile more than desktop, or prefers printed literature to digital downloads. Identifying your prospects’ preferred communication channels will help you build a successful foundation for your automated lead nurturing strategy.

2. The Message
Your sales people are used to addressing a certain set of pain points with your customers and prospects here at home, but those pain points don’t always carry over to foreign markets. Foreign rules and regulations, local market conditions, and divergent ways of doing business can create a different set of demands on your prospects. To understand those demands, and more importantly meet them, you need to do your homework to properly position your products or services as the right solution.

3. The Timing
Timing covers a lot of territory. It may mean a time of year for seasonal businesses. It may refer to a buying cycle or when new fiscal budgets are approved. It may also mean what time of day you communicate with your prospects. When in the year, in the business cycle, or in the day your message reaches your marketplace is a defining factor in whether or not your message is heard, so make sure you take the time to understand local business cycles.  Entering a foreign market is no small task, but it is often a necessary step for small to mid-sized businesses that want to remain competitive and grow. If you don’t have the internal resources to manage all of the work that goes into foreign sales and marketing, look for consultants and services in your area to assist. Also, consider supplementing your sales and marketing team with automated lead nurturing to relieve you of having to hire additional personnel to manage lead gen abroad.

Reach out to Wavelength Marketing today for help with your automated lead nurturing efforts abroad. You can visit our website or call Gary Peterson at: 717-823-6939.